


We Are Off to See the Wizard

by Rosie2009



Series: Descendants Fanfiction [39]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable, Core Four, Cute, Descendants 3 Spoilers, Disney, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Funny, Gen, Halloween, Humor, Mal & Uma Friendship (Disney), Sea Three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-10-28 16:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20781635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009
Summary: Audrey's Annual Halloween Bash is coming up, and Evie has thought of a rather interesting costume idea for the Core Four. Several of their friends get pulled into the epiphany, too. It's super fluffy with Huma, Jaudrey, Bal, Jarlos, Core Four fluff, and some Mal and Hades father/daughter feels.





	1. Run for the Hills

“Evie, there is no way under the sun that I’m agreeing to this,” Mal firmly protested, evading Evie’s eyeliner that was headed for her eyes at a quick pace. She hurried over to the other side of the bed so that the bluenette couldn’t corner her against a wall.

“M, please? I already have the costumes made and everything, and Audrey’s having her party tonight,” Evie begged, looking at her with soulful eyes as she paused on the opposite side of the bed. Mal rolled her eyes, keeping her gaze firmly locked on the door in an attempt to avoid falling for Evie’s sad look as she plotted a way to get out.

Evie was currently attempting to desperately convince her sister to partake in her latest costume idea: _The Wizard of Oz_. She had apparently been working on the getups secretly behind Mal’s back for a long while now, and just today on Halloween, Evie had finally decided to present her plan to the other girl. Most likely she waited because she wanted to convince Mal that since it was the day of Halloween and the faerie still had no costume, she should just use Evie’s epiphany. Which, by the way, was a really stupid idea.

To put it simply, Mal was not having it. She might decide to go out for Audrey’s big Halloween bash and would maybe even dress up, but she was never going to go in such a ridiculous outfit as a man made out of straw. Besides that, she wasn’t even a man.

“How do you even know the getup’s going to fit since you didn’t even try it on me beforehand?” Mal desperately spoke, trying to find some loophole in this frustrating idea as she plotted her way out.

“I’ve got your, Jay’s, and Carlos’ measurements!” Evie proudly grinned, before staring at Mal with that same look from earlier as her eyes attempted to delve deeply into whatever sympathy reserves that Mal had. “C’mon, let me put the costume on you… Please?”

Mal looked between Evie, the door, and the bed before making up her mind.

“Ain’t happenin’, cap’n,” Mal told her, faking a lunge for Evie’s side of the bed, but quickly rushing for the door and she shoved through the doorway quickly.

However, just as soon as she shoved her way out of the horrifying dungeon of doom, she ran straight into Uma. The dark-skinned girl stumbled backward with the impact, but quickly recollected herself as she gained a questioning expression.

“Woah, woah, woah. Just where’re you going in such a hurry?” Uma asked, holding the green-eyed girl’s arms firmly in an attempt to steady her. Mal shoved the door closed with her foot and she practically dragged Uma behind her as she started to scurry away.

“Don’t ask why, just run before she makes you the dog,” Mal told her, and Uma began to willingly run close by her as Mal’s hand melted away from her wrist.

“So we’re running through the halls of your castle away from Evie, because she’s gonna turn you into a pooch? Seriously? We’re talking bubble-gum-friendship-forever Evie, right?” Uma questioned, raising an eyebrow skeptically as Mal looked behind her furiously, ushering the pirate up the stairs to her favorite hiding spot on the roof.

“Yeah, but she’s not turning anyone into a dog magically. It’s a makeup torture session,” Mal explained and Uma’s went wide as she swiftly moved with Mal’s shoves without any hesitation whatsoever.

“In that case, I’m with you, girl. Run for the hills!” Uma yelled, hurrying up the stairwell and opening the door for the both of them. Mal quickly scaled them but paused so she could check to see if Evie was behind them.

“Mal?!” Evie’s voice sounded off from somewhere at the bottom of the stairs, and with no hesitation, Mal dashed through the doorway with Uma quickly behind her.

Uma turned and swiftly locked it behind her. There was a short moment where time seemed to stop. There were no sounds besides the pleasant breeze zipping around their ears, and for all practical purposes, Evie seemed to not have followed them.

Uma hesitantly stepped back, keeping her eyes firmly glued on the door. After all, one couldn’t leave their guard down just yet. Especially when one’s dignity was at stake.

The pirate ambled over to Mal, crossing her arms over her chest as she calmly surveyed the perfect view of the Isle that their lookout permitted.

“Gosh,” Mal breathed heavily, breaking the silence as she stared wide-eyed at the door. Uma looked over at the purple-haired girl and raised an eyebrow.

“You used to be able to outrun even me. Being queen’s aging you already, is it?” Uma teased, and Mal largely ignored her smart comment in favor of leaning against the railing tiredly.

“Y’know, I’ve never been gladder to have you here in Auradon,” Mal grinned as she worked to catch her breath. Uma laughed breathlessly, rolling her eyes at the other girl with a smirk as she settled her gaze on Mal’s profile.

“Really? Not even when we single-handedly saved Auradon from its greatest threat yet? ‘Cause I thought that was pretty dang awesome myself.”

“Yeah, yeah, Audrey wasn’t it’s biggest threat. Try you.”

“I was nowhere near crazy or dangerous as her. Even when I had an opportunity to take the scepter, I didn’t,” Uma told her, and Mal eyed her strangely, wondering if Uma had considered stealing it previously or had broken into the museum once before. It was a worrying thought, nevertheless, but she still trusted the pirate. Despite the fact that she was freshly reformed. Very freshly reformed.

“But seriously, though, have y’all got that under better security yet? I mean really. A curtain isn’t exactly the best form of protection. Even that stupid, useless, totally unmagical Queen’s crown was surrounded by glass,” Uma laughed, shaking her head with a grin. Mal looked over at the other girl with a slight smile.

“Nobody’s getting Mom’s scepter anytime soon. We’ve got it under special, high-security lockdown now.”

“If you’d have thought of that earlier, you might not would’ve had this problem with Audrey.” Mal shot her a warning glance. Uma looked away with a shrug. “Just sayin’.”

“Now, look, back to the main subject of why we’re even up here. What’s Evie trying to do to you?” Mal simply groaned deeply in response to the other girl’s question.

“She’s got this ridiculous, cutesy-tutesy costume idea for me, Jay, Carlos, and her. Something about a scaredy-cat, a metal man, a straw person, and a girl that gets a concussion,” Mal explained, rolling her eyes at the very idea of Evie’s ridiculous plan.

“Who’s she trying to get you to be?” Uma questioned.

“She’s intending for me to be the straw person,” Mal replied, and Uma let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“Good grief! That’s bad!” Uma cried. After a moment of considering this newest revelation, Uma chuckled.

“But the good part is that I know what I’m saying to you the next time I see you,” Uma smirked widely and Mal’s eyes widened as she recognized that look and somehow knew what the dark-skinned girl was thinking.

“Don’t you dare,” Mal warned. Uma’s wicked smile simply grew as she opened her mouth to speak. Mal closed her eyes in exasperation, knowing there was no stopping her.

“Hay, gurl, hay!” Uma exclaimed, before bursting into laughter. Mal just huffed in response and waited for Uma to finally finish her fit of hysterics.

“Yeah, I’m gonna give you heck for that,” Uma told her, shaking her head with a contented smile as a few giggles still haunted her tone.

They quieted for a moment before the dark-skinned girl suddenly spoke again.

“I’ve got an idea. What if you were the girl that got the concussion?” Uma asked, and Mal looked at her, completely unimpressed with her idea.

“What if you were the dog, then?” Mal sarcastically questioned, and Uma pursed her lips and watched her, displeased with Mal’s sudden snark and lack of contemplation of her idea.

“I’m just saying that it would certainly be better than the other options,” the pirate informed her.

Mal thought about her statement for a moment, considering her chances of getting out of Evie’s costume idea. It was undeniably something that Evie really worked hard on and wanted to stick with. Besides, Mal knew she’d have to face the bluenette at one point or another, and Mal didn’t really want to face a disappointed, sad Evie when she finally did woman up.

Mal finally nodded her head, straightening and heading for the door to deal with Evie who was most certainly downstairs lurking about and eagerly awaiting her favorite victim to mercilessly prey upon.

“That’s not an entirely bad idea. I’ll go present it to her,” Mal told the pirate with a slight smirk.

Uma just smirked in response, proud of her idea and also pleased with the fact that Mal had chosen to listen after all.

Just as Mal unlocked the door, she turned to Uma and gestured with her head.

“You coming?” Mal asked her. The pirate thought for a moment on her offer, and finally nodded, ultimately deciding to join her.

“Well, I kind of want to see her face when she realizes that she gets to be a scarecrow,” Uma admitted with a lopsided grin, and Mal clapped her on the shoulder with a knowing smile.

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Mal agreed, and the two of them headed down the stairs to face the terribly frightening beast that was Evie.


	2. You Want Me to Be What?

“Hey! You’re back!” Evie grinned widely at the two as they strode through the door. As soon as her gaze settled on Uma, however, an even wilder grin came onto her face as she clasped her hands together in front of her in her nigh insane excitement.

“And you brought Uma! Just wait, I have got the perfect outfit for you,” Evie told the pirate with an almost maniacal glint in her stare.

Uma’s eyes immediately widened in terror, and she started trying to surreptitiously back out the door. Mal simply shut the door before Uma could leave and the dark-skinned girl eyed her with a somewhat miffed expression before turning back to face Evie with a horrified stare.

Evie started digging through her dreadful closet of clothes, and if she had a tail, Mal was sure it’d be wagging at ninety miles per hour. She was completely in her element as she sifted through fabrics and various compositions of those materials.

Just as Mal was sure Uma was going to jump out the window or something in her haste to get out of the room, Evie rematerialized from the huge forest of clothing.

“Here you are, Uma. I’ve got costumes for Harry and Gil, too, so just send them here or bring them when you can,” Evie instructed as she reached over and handed Uma a back mass of fabric.

Uma very hesitantly took it from her with a skeptical glance. She let it fall loosely from her grasp as she examined it.

“Are you wanting me to be some kind of ghost or something?” Uma checked with her.

“No, no, it’s not a ghost outfit. Take a look at this.” Evie suddenly handed her yet another article of clothing and Uma gaped at the sharp pointy thing that had just been placed in her grasp.

“A witch costume?” Uma questioned as she examined the tall hat.

“Not just any witch costume. It’s a Wicked Witch of the West costume,” Evie clarified, waving a finger at Uma with an enormous, face-cracking grin. Uma raised an eyebrow as she regarded the clothing.

“This is kind of weird, and I’m honestly not sure whether it’s better or worse than a ghost,” Uma told her unashamedly, but Mal couldn’t help but note the way that she examined it a little too closely to be completely uninterested and unimpressed.

“So, M, are you ready to get dressed up?” Evie hopefully questioned, and Mal’s eyes widened as the bluenette headed toward her vanity to most likely launch another attack on Mal. The purple-haired girl rushed over to Evie, taking her hands as she tried to distract her from her mission.

“Actually, I have a bit of a costume change plan,” Mal admitted to Evie. The bluenette quickly paused in her hurried actions, locking eyes with the pale girl.

“What? Why?” Evie asked, the disappointment in her gaze easily detectable as her soulful brown eyes started to reflect every sad emotion in her.

“We’re still going with your idea!” Mal quickly assured her, squeezing her hands in her grasp firmly. The change in the taller girl was almost immediate as she grinned happily but with some confusion.

“Okay… I’m afraid I still don’t get it,” Evie prompted Mal to continue and the younger girl took in a breath to finally propose her idea.

“I will agree with your idea on the conditions that I get to be the concussion girl and you get to be the scarecrow,” Mal finally told her. Evie lost whatever smile that might have been on her face in favor of a shocked expression.

“What?” Evie questioned, her eyes wide and her voice small as she gaped at Mal.

“You be the scarecrow and me be the girl that gets hit in the head.”

Evie was quiet for a moment as her whole face showed her utter bafflement at the idea.

“You want me to be what?!” Evie asked, her jaw practically touching the floor as she gaped at Mal in complete shock and even slight horrification. Mal huffed in frustration. After all, she had repeated herself about two times beforehand.

“Did she not just hear you all forty-five times you said it?” Uma asked Mal from her position lounged on the nearby bed. Evie shot her an unimpressed glance, her lips pursed, but quickly returned her gaze to Mal with a more desperate look on her face.

“But, M, I’ve got all of the measurements done! The scarecrow outfit won’t fit me,” Evie desperately tried, really hoping that Mal wouldn’t see through her lack of logic.

“The scarecrow outfit is baggy, so it’ll fit you just fine. Besides, I’ll do well in your dress that you made. I’m not _that_ much smaller than you,” Mal informed her as Evie sat there attempting to think of some reason why she shouldn’t be the scarecrow.

“But I just don’t want to,” Evie finally admitted, looking at Mal with that super pitiful expression that only she seemed to be capable of pulling off so perfectly.

“Well, this was your idea, princess, so suck it up,” Uma told the bluenette with a wicked grin, enjoying defending Mal purely to aggravate Evie further.

“I don’t want to be a scarecrow either,” Mal replied simply. Evie huffed, studying Mal carefully before looking down at their still joined hands.

“Well… I want us all to match and I guess I fit the scarecrow a little better than you do,” Evie admitted, and Mal looked at her with a bit of confusion.

“How is that?” Mal couldn’t help but ask her.

“M, we’ve been over this several times already,” Evie chastised gently before turning to the bed to straighten the costumes that were laying on it.

“Our costumes have symbolic quality. Carlos looks like a scaredy-cat on the outside, but he’s really brave deep down. Jay seems at first like he’s hard-hearted and unfeeling, but he’s really a big marshmallow on the inside,” Evie paused for a moment, considering her next words carefully before meeting Mal’s eyes.

“And most people look at me and see an airhead and a dumb girly girl, but my grades say otherwise,” Evie told Mal, and the green-eyed girl smiled softly at the bluenette.

“Uh… Is it bad that I still see you that way?” Uma piped up with a wicked grin, and Evie shot her an unimpressed, half-hearted glare before turning over to the beautiful vanity that Mal herself had picked out for Evie.

“Now. Sit down. I’ve got work to do,” Evie instructed and Mal hesitantly took a seat at Evie’s torture chamber.

“Uma, can you dial Carlos’ number and put it on speaker? I have to tell him I need him to get Jay and come here,” Uma nodded in response, taking Evie’s sparkly phone in her hand and unlocking the screen.

Mal glared at Uma jealously, wishing that she was in that position instead of being the one that was about to be slathered in cakey makeup. Uma glanced up and noticed Mal’s stare. The pirate chuckled before attempting to fuel the fire.

“Man, am I glad I’m not getting in that chair anytime soon,” Uma grinned and Evie looked at her with an almost chilling sort of glint in her eye.

“Uma, don’t you know what the Wicked Witch of the West looks like?” Evie asked. Uma raised an eyebrow as she pressed the call button on the phone when she pulled up Carlos in the contacts list.

“Uh, no? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not well-versed in the art of reading,” Uma laughed, shaking her head.

“Well, let me be the first to tell you that she is completely green all over,” Evie told her, satisfaction evident in her voice.

Uma lost all semblances of humor at that point.


	3. Matchy Matchy

Jay sighed as he closed his eyes. This was as boring as could be.

Jay liked to think of himself as a good boyfriend, and he did lots of things for his girlfriend just because she asked him to. But this had to be the worst thing ever, he couldn’t help but note as he wriggled uncomfortably in his place on the floor.

It seemed that Audrey had dragged him here for what he perceived as simply a reason for her to prattle on about her party and whatever else came to her mind.

“Hey, are you even listening?” a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Speak of the Queen of Mean.

Jay looked up at his girlfriend from his significantly lower vantage point. Her eyebrow was raised in an expression of her unimpressed sentiments.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you,” she told him after he gazed back at her with a questioning look.

“What do you need, hot lips?” Jay asked her, unashamedly admiring her form as he spoke. As he expected, her face turned somewhat red in response to his flirting, but she forced herself to quickly recover.

“I want to know what you think of the decorations,” Audrey informed as she stepped aside so he could look behind her at the boxes upon boxes of sparkly garland and whatnot that she had ordered to be brought in for her party.

“It looks like a lot of them?” Jay tried, unsure of what exactly she wanted from him as he sat up to get a better look at what she had.

“I know that, you dummy,” she told him with exasperation, but he could easily detect the fondness in her voice. “I’m talking about how pretty they are.”

“Oh, that. Well, they’re beautiful, but not as gorgeous as you,” Jay cheekily remarked. Audrey grinned at him, bending down and taking his chin in her hand as she gave him his reward for doing what she wanted.

“Good answer,” Audrey complimented as she pulled away from his lips with an audible smack.

“Wow, I’m going to have to give you some more good answers, foxy,” Jay winked at her and she found herself somewhat flustered as she arose quickly.

“These last-minute decorations are just the thing we need to really spice up my big Halloween bash. Ooh! And just wait until you see the costumes I have for us!” Audrey exclaimed with the greatest of eagerness. Jay raised an eyebrow as he stood up.

“Okay… I’ll bite. What are they?” Jay asked.

“Only the most wonderful costumes that will completely outdo anything that anyone else could think of,” Audrey excitedly answered.

“But that doesn’t tell me anything about what we’re actually wearing,” Jay chuckled as he grabbed her waist in his hands, drawing her closer to him to lean his forehead against her own. She made some noise between a contented hum and a giggle as she gripped his forearms in her much smaller hands.

“If I told you, would it be a surprise anymore?” Audrey questioned sweetly, looking into his eyes with mischievous adoration.

“No, but I can still act surprised,” Jay replied with a rascally look that was just as wicked as her own.

“You’re terrible!” Audrey giggled and he just moved forward a bit, kissing her nose.

“Well, I do have certain ways to persuade it out of you,” Jay told her as he moved over to slowly and deliberately plant kisses on her right cheek and jawbone. She sucked in a breath, allowing him to continue for a moment, but quickly pulled back a bit, his mouth following her like a moth to a flame.

“Come on, we have work to do. I need your help putting these up,” Audrey tried to distract him from his mission. He didn’t heed her instructions in the least and remained focused on his work. The torturous satisfaction went on for several more minutes before she finally brought an end to it by conceding to his wishes.

“Fine, fine. You’re going to be a prince and I’m going to be a princess,” she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. Jay immediately paused in his affection, pulling back to look at her.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Why not?”

“Well, you’re kind of already a princess,” Jay pointed out, very confused by her costume choice.

“I mean one of those from way back that wore those really big puffy dresses,” Audrey told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and that he was a total moron for missing it. He furrowed his brow as he considered the idea and then it truly dawned upon him exactly was she was wanting him to be.

“A prince?” Jay asked, somewhat dumbfounded. Audrey grinned in her ultimate excitement, hopping up and down in his embrace in the midst of her enthrallment.

“Yes! So we match! It’s what all the super cute couples do!” Audrey grinned widely. Jay cleared his throat, swallowing hard at the prospect of the idea. He really didn’t want to be a stuffy prince for Halloween. He honestly wasn’t sure what he wanted to be or even if he was going to dress up, but that certainly wasn’t what he had in mind.

But before he had to formulate a response, Carlos came bounding in at a high speed with that ever-present energy that always seemed to radiate off of him wherever he went. He couldn’t help but internally sigh with relief. Saved by the bell.

“Yo, Evie called and she wants us to come to Mal’s castle. You know, where she stays with Mal a lot,” Carlos told Jay as he came in before getting a huge grin on his face as he suddenly took on a posture that purely reeked of sneakiness.

“And also…” Carlos turned around to face the opposite direction as he fiddled with something that was out of Jay’s eyesight. Jay could feel Audrey’s increasingly heated glare penetrating the side of his face, so he kept his stare focused on the back of Carlos’ head.

Just when he was least expecting it, the de Vil spun around to face Jay with a fearsome expression, his teeth bared ferociously as he growled. Jay raised an eyebrow, unable to hold back the laugh at the very obviously fake vampire fangs hanging from the other guy’s mouth. Carlos stuck his tongue out, one eye squinted as he tried to conjure fear in the two of them.

“Bleh, bleh, bleh!”

However, as soon as he started to talk, the vampire teeth fell out of his mouth and onto the floor. Carlos looked down at them with a bumfuzzled expression as he sobered.

“Well, those suck,” Jay deadpanned after a moment, and he smiled victoriously at the small huff that was earned from Audrey.

“Aren’t they supposed to?” Carlos asked, his eyes wide as he picked them up off the floor. Jay rolled his eyes before turning back to his girlfriend that, judging by her grip on his arms, was about to start demanding that he give her the attention she was owed.

“Gotta go. See you later?” he bade her farewell, kissing her lips swiftly before she could properly respond and he started off with Carlos.

“Jay?! How am I going to finish this without you?” Audrey questioned desperately, taking his hand in her own and gesturing at the mess on the floor with her free hand. Jay thought for a moment before offering her that cocky smirk that conveyed just how arrogant he could be.

“Call Mal. I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” he drew her hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles gently before taking off out the door.

Audrey stood there for a moment in complete, unadulterated frustration before finally trying his idea and dialing Mal’s number on her phone. Honestly, that boy was the singular most frustrating and infuriating thing that she had ever had in her life.

After a few rings, Mal finally picked up.

“Hello?” Mal’s voice sounded oddly strained as she answered the phone. Audrey raised an eyebrow.

“Hello, are you okay?” Audrey immediately asked her, and she could suddenly hear Evie chuckling under her breath somewhere nearby the phone. Mal groaned in exasperation.

“I could be better,” Mal replied.

“Evie’s torturing me, but I guess I’ll live if a miracle comes flying in the window and knocks her out,” Mal continued with a bit of venom in her voice, and Audrey smiled absently as she looked down at the floor.

“Sounds… interesting.”

“Yes, it certainly is. HEY! Watch where you’re poking that thing!” Mal cried out defensively and Mal could almost picture that defensive cut of Mal’s eyes that was so characteristic of the faerie.

“Seriously? M, I haven’t even touched you yet. You big baby, quit getting so dramatic every time we call people while I’m working on you,” Evie giggled, and Audrey snorted quietly.

“You think you got it bad? You ain’t the one that’s sitting here waiting for the verdigris to get plastered on,” Uma’s voice suddenly sounded off. Audrey couldn’t help but find her curiosity piqued by Uma’s comment.

“What do you mean ‘verdigris?’” Audrey questioned.

“Like I mean I’m about to turn green,” Uma explained. Audrey furrowed her brow but before she could speak, Evie interrupted quickly.

“Audrey, I have a costume for you, so come to my- well, Mal’s place that I happen to have a home away from home at- as soon as you can,” Evie instructed Audrey. The pink princess sighed quietly, assuming that was probably why Evie had called Jay and Carlos. Oh, well. She guessed she should at least give Evie’s outfit idea a chance before insisting that she stick with her princess costume.

“I’ll come over later. What time is it now?” Audrey questioned.

“It’s about noon,” Uma answered, and Audrey nodded before glancing at the boxes, accidentally reminding herself of why she called in the first place.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Do you guys know of anyone that can come and help me put up these last-minute decorations? I’ve asked Celia to help me with the cupcakes and a few actual full-sized cakes, and Jay’s headed over to you guys,” Audrey explained. Uma cleared her throat and Audrey knew it was an attempt to keep from laughing.

“What is so funny, Uma?” Audrey demanded.

“Nothing. It’s just… do you know for sure whether Celia can cook or not?” Uma asked Audrey and Audrey frowned upon the realization that it was actually a pretty good inquiry to make.

“She told me she did,” the pink princess replied, somewhat unsure of herself as she spoke.

“Oh, I’m sure she told you. The question is if she’s full of it or not,” the pirate chuckled. Audrey suddenly felt a panic gripping her as she squeezed the phone a little tighter.

“Thorn, it seems like you need to go check on our favorite mischief-maker. I’ll ask my dad if he’ll come help you.” It was almost as if Mal could sense the immediate apprehension pouring off of Audrey at that moment, and the green-eyed girl continued quickly.

“All the other options I know of are about to be called and shortly thereafter made over by Evie. OW! Get the tweezers away from the eyebrows!” Mal nearly shouted and Evie snorted loudly in response.

“Thank you, Mal. And I wish you luck with your makeover,” Audrey half-heartedly smiled before the two exchanged their goodbyes and she hung up. The pink princess quickly hurried off to the kitchen as soon as her phone was in the pocket of her skirt.

She hoped that Celia hadn’t gotten into too much trouble.


	4. Celia's Cooking Conundrum

“Yeah, sure I know how to cook. Good grief, stupid brain! Why did you make me say that?!” Celia cried, her eyes wide as she skittered back and forth between ovens. Her normally very unruly hair was pulled back into a ponytail so that it would fall into whatever food she was working on.

“Besides all that, what possessed her to even ask me to do it? She ought to know that I don’t know anything about baking stuff,” Celia ranted aloud, expressing her thoughts.

She popped open one of the ovens to see if she could smell anything that was getting a little too crispy. To her utmost delight, absolutely nothing seemed to be burning. Thankfully everything seemed to be under control with this cake, unlike her previous disaster with the cupcakes.

Celia skipped over to the other oven that was cooking another cake. It appeared to be good so far except for the fact that the cake had weird potholes in it. Of course, she did have a few problems with that one when she was mixing the batter.

As soon as she was mostly sure that nothing was burning inside the ovens, she grinned in relief as she headed back over to work on the cupcakes.

Celia licked her lips at the sight of the delicious chocolate confections sitting there on the counter. However, she frowned at the sight of a lone eggshell poking out of the baked deliciousness. She surreptitiously looked around- not that there was anyone there to see her anyway- and poked the eggshell so that it was hidden in the midst of the cupcake.

“There! No one will be any the wiser!” Celia told herself, satisfied with the somewhat singed baked treats before her. “Now I just gotta decorate ‘em.”

Celia headed over for the icing tubes and the sprinkles that Audrey had left for her to use. She examined each of the colors of icing, trying to decide which one Audrey would like. After a moment, she shrugged, grabbing all of them and placing them on the counter nearby her workspace.

“Welp, can’t go wrong with every color there is,” Celia shrugged before gathering all the sprinkle colors, too.

Celia launched into her cupcake decorating, but as she squirted the first dollop on the cupcake, couldn’t help but wonder what it would taste like. So she tilted her head back and opened her mouth before squeezing the icing above her so that it fell between her teeth.

As soon as it hit her tongue, it was like heaven reinvented into squirtable décor for wonderful confections. Celia eagerly swallowed the frosting and opened her mouth for another enormously huge portion of the stuff.

It was delectably irresistible and so, so sweet.

After a moment, however, she didn’t feel anymore icing coming out of the tube and falling into her waiting piehole. Celia opened her eyes and disappointedly noted that she was out of the pink frosting.

She furrowed her brow, but quickly decided that she wanted to try sprinkles, because if the frosting was that good, then the sprinkles just had to be to die for.

Celia popped open the container and shook it so that she could chew a healthy amount of the small specks. To her disappointment, they weren’t quite as good as the icing was, but they still weren’t too bad. She eagerly indulged in a few more shakes before finally deciding that she probably needed to start working on the cupcakes.

“Hey, Ce-Ce. What’re you doing?” Dizzy suddenly popped into the kitchen with her usual bouncy excitement and happiness and Celia grinned widely at her, her earlier idea about actually doing what Audrey asked her to completely evaporating from her mind.

“Dizz, you have got to try this!” Celia excitedly told her, grabbing the tube of green icing and meeting the Tremaine halfway across the room.

“Ooh, what’s that?” Dizzy questioned, and Celia just raised an eyebrow at her with a sly smirk.

“You’ll see. Open up,” Celia instructed, and Dizzy easily complied. She held the tube over Dizzy’s mouth and squeezed firmly, mounds upon mounds of icing falling down into the hatch.

Celia pulled back and watched expectantly as Dizzy’s whole face lit up in a monstrous grin as she looked at the tube dreamily.

“That’s magic,” Dizzy replied with a positively enchanted expression on her face as she swallowed the icing.

“Bibbidi-bobbidi, you know it,” Celia joked and they both laughed.

“Oh, and by the way, I even have eggshells in the cupcakes. I know Auradonians don’t like them, but I thought it might do them good. Maybe give them a little character,” Celia suggested as she walked over to the cupcakes with Dizzy.

“Definitely! They’re full of calcium goodness.”

“So I’m helping people by pushing in the eggshells so they can’t see them? Celia for the win-win!” Celia whooped in happiness and Dizzy giggled in response, nodding emphatically. Celia frowned after a moment, though, reaching over and pushing in yet another eggshell she noticed.

“Hey, Dizzy, help me out here and hide these eggshells in the cupcakes,” Celia told her.

“Why don’t you just take them out if they’re going to be that much trouble?” Dizzy questioned.

“Because I’m afraid that there’s entirely too many in them to even consider getting all of them out,” Celia answered somewhat sheepishly. Dizzy shrugged in response, moving over to help her push them in.

However, after a moment, Dizzy sniffed a bit, furrowing her brow in thought.

“Umm… What’s that burning smell?” Dizzy innocently asked. Celia’s eyes went comically wide as she rushed over to the nearest oven. As soon as she opened it, black smoke came pouring out of the appliance. Dizzy hurried to the other oven and opened it, too, another wave of smog coming out as she took a cloth and pulled the cake out of the oven.

Both girls were coughing hard as they tried to fan away the stench of the charred cakes. Dizzy finally had the thought to open up a nearby window, and the smoke eagerly slipped by her and out of the newly opened crevice.

“What is going on in here?!” a high-pitched voice screeched, and Celia hacked extra violently upon the realization that it was Audrey standing there not too far from her.

“My biscuits are burning,” Celia tried, flashing the very miffed pink princess a huge toothy grin in an attempt to dispel at least a bit of the anger that was brewing just beneath the surface of the other girl. It worked for a moment as Audrey considered the colloquial meaning for biscuits, but the anger quickly returned full force as she got another whiff of the smoke.

“Well, what about the cakes?!” Audrey demanded, and Celia jumped a bit, giggling somewhat maniacally as she tried to maneuver herself between Audrey and the crisps that were just behind her.

“They’re fine. Well-done, just how everybody likes them!” Celia informed her, full of false cheeriness as Audrey drew nearer. Celia leaned back further, hoping that Audrey wouldn’t just sidestep her and see just how badly burnt the cakes were.

Audrey’s eyes narrowed and she snapped her fingers, pointing to the side in a firm command. Celia looked at her for just a moment before darting to the side.

Audrey gasped in complete horror at the blackened confections there on the counter.

“Oh, come on! They aren’t that bad!” Celia told her and Audrey spun around to face the younger girl, the anger coming off of her in waves. Celia grinned guiltily.

“Well, they aren’t as bad as they look… Maybe? Dunno?” Celia giggled under her breath, knowing she was going to get chewed up and spit out.

“Why in the world didn’t you tell me that you can’t cook?!” Audrey demanded.

“Really? You didn’t already know that? Are you forgetting that the Isle was lacking in a lot of ways and the daughter of _the_ Shadow Man probably isn’t going to know how to cook up a bunch of tastiness?” Dizzy piped up suddenly and Celia facepalmed as Audrey’s wrath was turned to the other girl. Dizzy winced, realizing just how bad of an idea that it was to talk while Audrey was on the warpath.

“Okay, sorry about that… I’m just gonna leave now,” Dizzy told her as she edged away and out the door.

“What were you telling me exactly? Any idiot can cook?” Audrey checked with the shorter girl her hands on her hips and Celia sighed defeatedly as an ultimately guilty and remorseful look took over her features.

“I’m sorry… I just… I guess I wanted to be able to help you out and do something good. Y’know, to show that I really am an Auradon girl now,” Celia explained herself, fully ashamed of her lies.

Audrey sighed deeply, closing her eyes and conjuring every bit of patience that she had left in her. This whole party was really leaving her completely fried, but she really did feel bad for the poor girl.

So, when she opened her eyes again, she offered Celia a benevolent, kind smile in hopes of exhibiting her sympathy for the Facilier’s plight rather than her frustration at the setback.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. It’ll all be fine. I’ll just order something really quick from the bakery down the street,” Audrey reassured her, placing a hand on Celia’s shoulder and squeezing gently.

“So you’re not mad at me?” Celia questioned with an innocence that was strangely suiting for the little imp. Audrey huffed, bringing her into a somewhat hesitant side-hug. This having actual real friends that really cared thing was very different for her, and she wasn’t completely sure how to interact properly.

“No. Now you go on and have fun. Get dressed up. I’m sure Evie has something planned,” Audrey smiled kindly at her, and watched as the girl skipped out of the room happily.

When she was gone, however, Audrey’s grin melted away quickly and she put her face in her hand with her other hand poised on her hip.

“Boy, I really hope they’re still open on a holiday.”


	5. UMA'S MISSING!!!

“There! An absolutely gorgeous Dorothy that everyone is going to be positively taken by,” Evie smiled sweetly as she spun Mal around in the office chair so that she could see what Evie had done to her.

Mal’s eyes widened as she studied what Evie had done with her face. She couldn’t help but huff a breathless chuckle as she grinned at her favorite bluenette. Evie bent down and squeezed her gently as she looked into Mal’s eyes through the mirror.

“It looks… Pretty good,” Mal complimented Evie’s handiwork as she focused on the small details that Evie had put onto her eyelids.

Evie just hugged her a bit tighter in response, sisterly love practically oozing off of her in that manner that came so naturally to the taller girl.

Uma rolled her eyes at the both of them and moved so that she was leaning against the headboard, the bed creaking as she shifted her position on the mattress. Her eyes widened a bit as she accidentally drew very unwanted attention to herself. Evie arose from her spot leaned against Mal’s shoulders and head and turned to the pirate with a wicked smile.

“Sit down in my parlor,” Evie told her with a pish-posh sort of voice, her hands folded in front of her against her dress as she eyed Uma and calmly helped Mal up from the chair. Mal smirked as she looked at Uma.

Mal smiled wickedly at Uma, but the pirate just looked back at her with a shrug and a carefree grin of her own. Mal raised an eyebrow, somewhat taken off guard by Uma’s unexpected laissez-faire. Uma just kept that mysteriously contented look on her face as her and Mal switched places.

Evie turned her so that she was facing the bed and so that she could inspect her more easily.

“I texted Harry and Gil and told them to come,” Uma informed Evie, her voice perfectly calm and having no trace of the nervous anticipation that it should have had. Evie nodded her head as she sifted through the many makeup supplies in the vanity.

“Cool,” she replied, trailing off as a perplexed expression found its way onto her face. After a few moments, she arose to look at the other two girls.

“Where’s my green face paint?” Evie questioned. Mal shrugged, looking around the room from newly acquired spot where Uma had been lounged just a moment ago as she texted her father as she had promised Audrey she would.

“I know where it is,” Uma suddenly announced. Evie turned to gaze at her expectantly. Uma grinned widely.

“It’s lost,” Uma cackled. Evie huffed and rolled her eyes, quickly returning to her search. Mal raised an eyebrow, noticing that Uma still had that almost sly sort of expression on her face. The green-eyed girl couldn’t help but think that the pirate must have hidden Evie’s green makeup somewhere in an attempt to avoid being painted on.

Mal wordlessly searched through the hulking mass of blue pillows underneath her, feeling for the large container of blindingly green face and body paint. She was disappointed to not find anything, but she did not give up so easily. She moved so that her top half was hanging off the bed and she gazed beneath the frame.

To her immense satisfaction, she spotted the container in all of its nearly glowing green glory.

“E, I found it,” Mal told the bluenette with a very much pleased grin on her face as she withdrew the container and offered it to Evie.

She turned quickly from her searching to see what Mal had and she smiled widely as she took it from her best friend.

“Thank you so very much!” Evie praised, patting Mal’s cheek sweetly. Mal just smiled back like the good pet that she was, and eyed Uma with righteous self-satisfaction in her gaze. The pirate returned her gaze with an expression that seemed almost as if she would murder her in her sleep.

Evie turned back to Uma and removed the lid from the container of paint before putting a large amount of the green on a pad.

“Okay, close your eyes,” Evie warned before immediately launching into slathering the green stuff all over Uma’s cheeks. Uma furrowed her brows at the feel of the wet paint on her face and she frowned.

“Don’t move your mouth. It’ll work better if your face is as still as possible,” Evie instructed as she swiftly worked. Uma set her jaw but remained mostly silent aside from a heavy sigh of disdain.

After a moment, the pirate felt the most unpleasant sensation of itching on her face. She instinctually brought her hand up to scratch her face and flinched when her hand was slapped away.

“Don’t do that! You’ll mess it up. It’s the perfect thickness right now,” Evie informed her. Uma raised an eyebrow at that statement, but nevertheless tried her best to keep her hand out of the way. She didn’t want to have to go through this horrifying procedure again.

Evie worked quietly and Mal moved behind her to watch.

The green-eyed girl carefully observed Evie’s gentle yet frequent strokes, somewhat fascinated by the artwork that was currently Uma’s face as the wetness slowly dried while Evie layered it. The bluenette remained working, but she gazed up at Mal for a moment with a smile.

“It’s kind of like her face is a canvas. A big, fat canvas,” Mal finally spoke, and smirked triumphantly upon noticing Uma’s obvious unappreciation of her comment. She stepped back in time with the kick poorly aimed in her general direction.

“Shut up,” Uma spoke, barely moving her lips in an attempt to avoid being scolded again for possibly messing up Evie’s paint job.

There was a knock at the door before Uma could make any more efforts to get revenge on the faerie, and Mal moved over to the door and opened it.

Jay, Carlos, Harry, and Gil were all standing just outside, and Mal smiled awkwardly at the lot of them.

“That looks nice,” Carlos complimented, immediately acknowledging her makeup.

“Thanks,” Mal expressed, stepping to the side and allowing the four boys to pour through the door into the room.

Almost immediately, Harry noticed Uma sitting there with her back to the boys, Evie intently focused on her face. The Hook boy stepped closer, thinking that he would surprise his girlfriend with a kiss. Before anyone could warn him otherwise, he closed the distance and delivered an upside-down kiss to her forehead.

He pulled away quickly, wiping his mouth and furrowing his brow in disgust. Evie squeaked, looking entirely offended as she gaped at Harry. However, her anger at him quickly melted away at the sight of his lips covered in green.

“Good. Now you’ve got lipstick to go with your eyeshadow,” Jay sarcastically commented with a raise of his eyebrow. Harry shot him a miffed look as he emphatically wiped the gooey paint away from his face.

“Ew! Ye coulda warned a guy!”

“Well, we didn’t exactly know that an idiot was going to waltz in here and put his mouth all in this goop. I’ve told you to quit playing in my makeup,” Uma told him, chuckling as she tried to keep a straight face. Evie was shakily attempting to reapply the makeup on Uma’s forehead and at the same time desperately willing away the giggles that were working to overtake her.

“Bloody Hades, what is this stuff?!” Harry cried, still trying to wipe the thin coating off of his lips.

“You might as well leave it alone, Harry, since you’re going to match Uma when I’m done,” Evie told him, and Harry paled, his eyes going wide.

Uma grinned, cutting her eyes in Harry’s direction.

“Hear that, Hook? You’re gonna be the Wicked Witch of the West, too,” Uma huffed, actually kind of looking forward to seeing him looking like a witch.

“No, no. He’s going to be one of your guards,” Evie told her. Harry raised an eyebrow, simultaneously curious and very afraid. Gil laughed excitedly, almost hopping in place as he hurried over to the bluenette.

“What do I get to be?!” Gil exclaimed in his enthrallment. Evie smiled at him, humoring his sweet enthusiasm for her entire project.

“You’re going to be a winged primate,” Evie informed him slowly, and Gil suddenly looked very dreamy as he considered the whole prospect.

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds really cool!” Gil replied. Uma rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, Gil. It’s _really_ cool. As cool as a flying monkey even.”

“I wish I could be a flying monkey,” Gil expressed. Harry and Uma shared a glance, groaning at Gil’s denseness.

“So, Evie, why did you want me and Jay to come?” Carlos innocently questioned, and Jay swiftly smacked the back of his head. “OW, dude! What was that for?”

“Don’t remind her! We still have time to escape!” Jay whispered, but quickly straightened and forced a causal look on his face when Evie stopped in her work on Uma to look at him with a sickeningly sweet smile.

“You’re going to be the Tin-Man, and you’re going to be the lion,” Evie pointed at each of them respectively, purposefully leaving out the fact that Carlos was going to be a cowardly sort of lion.

“Cool!” Carlos grinned, obviously pleased with his costume, and Jay simply groaned as he plopped down on the bed, crashing down on Mal’s legs. Mal squeaked in response, a little shocked by the sudden weight on her.

“Dang, bro, talk about a belly-flop,” Mal commented and Jay just relaxed more, allowing his entire body to just spread its heaviness on her limbs.

“You’re going to kill me and my legs are going to lose feeling and fall off my body,” Mal dramatically declared, and Jay steamrolled her legs back and forth in response.

“Since when did you become such a drama queen?” Jay asked her.

“Since she decided that I tortured her,” Evie informed him, pursing her lips mischievously as Mal glared at her half-heartedly.

“Oh,” Mal drug the note out for a moment, “bite me.”

“That’s not ladylike,” Evie rebuked her kindly and with one last stroke of the pad, pulled away from her intent work on Uma’s face. Everyone moved so that they could see what Uma looked like. Uma opened her eyes to gaze at the lot of them and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s everybody staring at me for?” For a few moments, no one uttered a word until Gil finally spoke up in a scream of terror.

“Where’d Uma go?! SHE’S MISSING!!!”


	6. Strange Things Happen on This Holiday

Audrey wrung her hands nervously, partially freaking out at the fact that her party started at seven o’clock, it was currently two o’clock, and Hades still hadn’t come yet. She had been waiting on him for two freaking hours!

She withdrew her phone, checking for any texts or calls that she might have missed that could hint at that irritating weirdo’s whereabouts. Audrey very disappointedly noted that there was absolutely nothing from anyone with the exception of a weather notification that warned of a twenty percent chance of rain and thunderstorms.

Audrey huffed and rolled her eyes, but didn’t let it get to her too badly. Of course it would have a chance to rain on the day of her big party. But it was estimated to happen around midnight if it occurred at all and the moon would rise before the possible rain, so it wouldn’t interfere with her pumpkin patch plans. She had already ordered the cakes and cupcakes from “Happy’s Bakery” since Celia ruined practically everything that she had planned to cook.

“Yo, I heard there was a party that needed saving?” a male voice suddenly spoke, and Audrey nearly jumped out of her skin at the person’s closeness. The pink princess turned around, aiming to give him a piece of her mind, but shrank at her realization of precisely how tall the god actually was.

“Yes, I need your help,” Audrey told him, mustering all of the bravery within her much smaller frame and straightening her posture as she faced him. He quirked an eyebrow at her but largely ignored her fear.

“Okay. What are we putting up?” Hades asked her.

“I’m going to need you to climb up there and push some tacks in and put up the banner. There’s not too much more to be done, but the last-minute décor is one of the most important-”

“Woah, woah, woah. Let me get this straight,” Hades interrupted her, his eyes piercing into what felt like her very soul as she fearfully eyed him. “You want me to get up the ladder and do all the work for you? That doesn’t sound like helping to me.”

“Well, I can’t do it! I’m a princess, you know!” Audrey informed him as if it were the most obvious fact in the world and in truth, it most likely should have been.

“Guess what, then, Princess?” Hades slackened his posture a bit as he leaned down to her level. “Looks like you’re getting a whole new outlook on life, because I’m not doing this all on my own.”

“That’s not very gentlemanly of you,” Audrey boldly proclaimed in reply and he just huffed in response, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“And it’s not very neighborly to expect everybody else to do the work for you,” he told her condescendingly and straightened as he brushed past her.

“So, what are we doing?” he asked her, reaching down and flipping a box open with a gloved hand.

“You’re putting up the banner that will welcome everyone,” Audrey stubbornly persisted, the more determined facet of her personality brightly shining through.

“Okay, okay. Let’s establish this one ground rule,” Hades turned to face her, a finger held out in her direction.

“I don’t take orders from you, and I’m teaching you some life lessons. Because you really need them, Princess.”

“That’s technically two things,” Audrey couldn’t help but acknowledge and he narrowed his eyes with a grin.

“Smart. That’s cute,” Hades reached over and patted her on the head like she was a pouting pet. Audrey growled under her breath with an irritated glare, completely frustrated by this infuriating person. Honestly, why did Mal send him to her in the first place?

He just turned and left her standing there blubbering before grabbing an end of the rope that the banner was strung on.

“Well, are you getting your end?” he asked her, shrugging his shoulders, and Audrey scowled in return, wordlessly taking the other end of the rope.

Hades climbed up the ladder on one side of the wide doorway and Audrey hesitantly planted her foot on the first step of the ladder on the other side. Hades ascended all the way to the top and started to push the tack through the rope and in the wall until he realized that the rope was too taut to lift it. He looked back down at her, raising an eyebrow.

“What are you doing?” he asked her dumbfoundedly. She looked up at him blankly as she pulled her other foot up onto the ladder. Audrey then hesitantly stepped up onto the next step. As soon as she was on the second rung, she immediately started clinging to the ladder for dear life.

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this!!!” Audrey cried out in pure fear, shutting her eyes tightly. Hades rolled his eyes and groaned in response to her ridiculousness.

“Okay, great. The party-planner and assistant decorator is scared of heights,” Hades complained aloud. Audrey quickly sprung to attention and a fire lit in her eyes as she stepped up another rung.

“I am not afraid of heights! And I am not an assistant decorator! This is my party!” Audrey shouted at him, and Hades smirked at his sudden realization of how he could convince Audrey to climb the ladder.

“I don’t know. If you had your way, you’d have me do all the work and you’d take all the credit. Sounds like I’m the real decorator,” Hades jabbed, and in her frustration, Audrey scaled several more steps in an attempt to meet him at eye level.

“I don’t even know why Mal called you! You can go suck an egg for all I care!” Audrey nigh hysterically announced, and he just chuckled in response.

“Come and get me QOM,” Hades taunted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Q is for Queen, O is for Of, and M is for Mean,” he informed her, a satisfaction in his voice as she climbed the remaining steps easily.

She stood there fuming for a moment, and he wasn’t really sure what she was going to say. Hades leaned a bit in her direction, keeping himself balanced, and smiled in false sweetness at her.

“Nice of you to finally join me. Tack in your side, if you don’t mind,” he cheekily grinned at her, and Audrey seemed to realize just how high up she was. For a moment, she went pale and he was slightly worried that she might do something stupid out of fear.

“Unless you’re too scared to tack in your side. Might need a big, strong man to help you out, Miss Helpless Princess,” Hades poked the bear that was Audrey and he reeled at how fast of a response that he received. She immediately sprang into action, shoving the tack in the wall firmly and scowling at him.

“There. I did it. Are you happy now?” she demanded, and he nodded nonchalantly.

“Yeah. It was okay, I guess,” he replied.

“It was okay? It was OKAY?!” she practically screeched at him and she climbed down her ladder parallel with Hades the entire time that she fussed and practically attacked him.

“If you think that you can just stomp up here all in the name of helping me and start treating me any such of a way as that, you’ve got another thing coming!” Audrey angrily ranted as she stepped off her ladder and marched right up so that she was in his face. Or at least as much as she could be considering the fact that she was so much shorter than him.

Hades just grinned at her before subtly gesturing around them. She suddenly realized that she was safely back on the ground and she pursed her lips, rather impressed with herself for actually facing her fears.

“That’ll do, Princess, that’ll do,” he nodded resolutely, and she couldn’t even bring herself to be mad at him for his weird reverse psychology that somehow worked really well.

“Well, these decorations aren’t going to put up themselves, are they?” Hades asked her after she just stood there gaping for a moment. She shook her head, coming to attention as she headed over and started to sift through the boxes, handing him some sparkly black garland and taking some for herself so that they could decorate some of the pillars surrounding the room.

Hades reached over and hauled the ladder to the pillar and the both of them started to wrap the garland around the thick pillar, tacking it in as they went.

“It’s a good thing this isn’t a really fat column or this’d be really hard right now,” Hades sarcastically mentioned as he struggled to reach around the fat structure.

“So what all are you doing for this shindig, huh?” Hades questioned once he had finally managed to wrap the last of the garland around the column.

“Well, there’s obviously going to be a party, there’s a spooky pumpkin patch being set up outside right now, and me and the girls are going to be doing a séance,” Audrey informed him, a small frown coming upon her face as she remembered that Lonnie couldn’t come since she was tied up in that big Tourney game at her college.

“Planning on talking to some of my souls in the Underworld?” Hades looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and she honestly couldn’t decipher whether he was joking or not. She finally settled for a nervous giggle.

“It’s just a game,” Audrey informed him, grinning weirdly as he simply continued to stare at her.

“I don’t know. Strange things happen around this holiday,” Hades ominously told her, the corners of his lips quirking in a strange manner before he returned to his work. Audrey’s eyes widened, and she felt a chill run up her spine as she considered his statement.

However, she soon shook it off, forgetting the emotion and pushing it behind her as she continued to work alongside Hades.

Nothing weird would be happening this Halloween. It was just a big, fun, festive bash that everyone would enjoy. Audrey knew that logically, absolutely nothing “strange” could occur, especially on her watch.

Right?


	7. Witches, Brooms, and the Word Police

“So where’s yo husband?” Uma asked Mal, not bothering to hold back a wicked grin as Harry was being painted despite her own current situation with her hands being submerged in green goop up to her wrists.

Harry’s tall form was sitting ridiculously crooked in Evie’s little office chair, his handsomely squared jaw easily visible from Uma’s viewpoint as Evie had him tilt his head to the side so she could access more of his skin as she dabbed on the green pigment. His entire upper body was slumped in the chair so Evie could reach him more easily, and his legs were off to the side.

“He’s supposed to be finding me when he’s through signing crap.”

“Ain’t you supposed to be helping him through this stuff? I’m including you in that question, too, Royal Advisor,” Uma pointed at Evie, pulling her hand out of the nasty bowl. Evie immediately glared at her looking between Uma and the bowl of goop. Uma rolled her eyes and stuck her hand back in hesitantly, wincing at the feel of the thick paint.

“He told me to go and hang out with E because she needed me for something,” Mal easily replied, but her eyes widened as she realized something. She spun to face Evie.

“Evie! You didn’t tell him, did you?!” Evie immediately looked a bit guilty and a huge smile came onto her face as she wiped at Harry’s nose, putting the green on.

“I did…”

“Evie!”

“I know. I’m horrid.”

“You think?!” Mal exclaimed and laughed a bit as she saw Evie’s face growing increasingly less serious by the minute.

“I can’t believe you’d tell him but not your own best friend!” Mal told her, attempting to sound deeply offended as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I love you,” Evie expressed apologetically, smiling at Mal while pulling her guilty look and stopping her work on Harry. He opened his eyes and raised his head, looking around in hopes that he might could escape Evie’s relentless work.

“I love you, too, you pain,” Mal finally grumbled in response, pulling out her phone to text Ben a good and long rant about how he had better warn her next time Evie “needed” her.

“But I’m your pain.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the problem,” Mal groaned. Evie just grinned winningly back at her. Harry started to raise up, but Evie quickly placed a palm on his chest, pushing him back down into her chair. He huffed irritably but ultimately complied with the force against him as he moved back into his place.

“You’re almost done, Harry. Just be patient. And then it’ll be Jay’s turn,” Evie reassured him, patting his chest before rubbing the green on his chin and around his mouth.

“Oh, yeah!” Gil exclaimed, completely and weirdly excited about the preparations for Jay’s costume. He offered Jay a high-five and the former thief eyed him with a strange glance before finally accepting.

Mal rolled her eyes at them before typing her text to Ben.

“_I am going to kill you on sight so keep a wide berth_.”

“_Um… Why_?”

“_You knew Evie’s plan and left me to be victimitized_.”

“_That’s not a word, lol_.”

“_It’s a mix between victim and traumatized_. _Kind of like killimaiming you_.”

“_What’s that_?”

“_Kill and maiming. Not quite in that order_.”

“_If it makes you feel any better, I’m coming your way soon. If you don’t decide to kill me, that is_.”

“_You can come. Killing has yet to be fully decided upon. I’ll let you know after I speak with the Royal Advisor_.”

“_I love you to infinity_!”

“_Love you, too, and beyond…_”

He then proceeded to send her a bunch of heart emojis, which of course, she had to reply to him with some of her own.

“Good grief, you two are mushy cheeseballs,” Uma suddenly told her, and Mal jumped a bit at the pirate captain’s unexpected closeness. She quickly put her phone back in her pocket, shooting Uma an unimpressed glance.

“When me and Harry text, there ain’t none of that bull going on. It’s just see you later and ‘kay,” Uma proclaimed just as Evie allowed Harry to leave his seat. He hurried away from her and sat on the floor nearby the side of the bed where Uma was resting. Harry and Uma shared a glance and he leaned his head against her knee heavily, closing his eyes as he relaxed with her.

Mal raised an eyebrow as she noted Uma’s smile in response to his affection, and she couldn’t help but make a comment on it.

“So says the person who’s now smiling from ear to ear,” Mal acknowledged and Uma quickly removed the grin from her face in favor of shooting a challenging glance in Mal’s direction.

“It’s different, okay? It’s not so dang sappy,” Uma defended firmly, before leaning back and stretching with several pops of her bones ensuing shortly thereafter.

“Am I about done?” Uma asked, and Evie surveyed her for a moment, mentally calculating the math no doubt, and she finally nodded, obviously deciding that Uma had done her time in the confinements of the goo.

Uma quickly pulled her hands out of the stuff with a groan of relief.

“Make sure you dry it off on that towel instead of rinsing it. I want to make sure it’s dry before you go using water on it,” Evie instructed, and Uma complied easily, wanting the stickiness off of her skin.

“Ol’ Hook’s gonna be riding a broom before we know it. Guess you’ll have to borrow Uma’s,” Jay chuckled and fist-bumped Carlos as he jibed at Harry.

“I don’t have no broom,” Uma assured him just before a broom suddenly was tossed nearby her.

“Don’t worry, Uma, I got you a broom so you wouldn’t feel like you were missing anything in your costume,” Evie grinned widely and way too innocently and Carlos laughed as he looked at Jay. Jay just crossed his arms in front of him with a smirk.

However, before he could even begin to pester Harry any further, Evie snapped her fingers, pointing to her chair as she stared at Jay. After a moment of staring at her, Jay hesitantly ambled over to the seat and plopped down defeatedly. As soon as he was comfortable, Evie immediately dove into swiftly layering Jay’s skin with silvery gray paint.

“Huh. I don’t think you dressed up that much,” Mal told Uma suddenly after a few moments, and Uma skeptically eyed her, wondering where she was going with this. She couldn’t help but think that the faerie was planning some sort of revenge for Uma’s comment about Mal’s texting habits.

“I think you’re crazy. Have you seen me at all? I’m practically green with envy right now,” Uma replied with a completely unimpressed expression on her face.

“Yeah, but you’re kind of a witch all the time,” Mal grinned and Uma held back the urge to roll her eyes.

“What? No comment? I didn’t expect you to take that one lying down.”

“I just don’t feel like giving you the satisfaction,” Uma quipped, leaning back against the pillow as she carefully checked if her hands were really and truly dry of the green paint. When she was sure it was clear of any stickiness or wetness, Uma sighed happily, reaching a hand down and raking her fingers across Harry’s scalp as she enjoyed the feel of his delightfully soft hair beneath her digits.

“Let me in, I beg for mercy! And I also need to brutally murder the Queen,” a voice suddenly rang outside their door. Mal raised an eyebrow, strolling over and pulling it open with a sickeningly sweet smile and half-lidded eyes.

“You rang?” Mal questioned, her voice way too angelic for the mischievous look in her eyes.

Audrey’s eyes immediately narrowed, but she quickly looked behind her in a paranoid sort of way before pushing past Mal and hurrying through the threshold.

As the pink princess’ shoulder shoved into her own, Mal pursed her lips in a shocked expression before turning to face the newest addition to their motley crew.

“Welcome, just let yourself in. No closed doors around here,” Mal sarcastically remarked as she spun around to face the other girl that had so abruptly entered.

“You just don’t understand! I just spent a horrifying hour of my life with quite possibly the most irritating human being that I’ve ever met in my whole life!” Audrey proclaimed, her eyes wide as she looked around the room in a vague realization that Mal and Evie weren’t the only people in the room before facing Mal quickly.

“You’re really just now realizing that you’re that insufferable? Welp, it all goes downhill from here,” Uma shrugged, grinning to herself as she saw Audrey’s shoulders immediately tense up.

“No! I’m talking about that… that blue-headed booby!”

“That’s not a nice way to talk about Evie,” Uma remarked, and Audrey finally turned quickly to face the pirate. Audrey’s eyes widened as soon as she saw Uma. Audrey held back a laugh as she gaped at her.

“So, Thorn? Whaddya think of Uma’s new look?” Mal questioned, strolling over and deciding to take a chance with Audrey’s wrath as she leaned her arm on Audrey’s shoulder. Audrey grinned, seeing an opportunity to gain retribution against Uma and gladly taking it.

“It’s fitting.”

“That’s cute. Everybody’s just picking on the innocent party over here,” Uma raised an eyebrow and pretended to look offended as she stopped moving her fingers across Harry’s head, drawing her hand to her lap.

Her first mate’s blue eyes fluttered open and he looked up at his captain, wondering why she stopped in the midst of his Uma-induced stupor. Uma happened to look back down at him again and she resisted the urge to groan as she fondly brought her hand back down to his scalp.

“Oh, ho, you aren’t nearly as innocent as you’d like to think,” Mal shook her head before turning to face Audrey. “So why exactly were you going to murder me?”

“Because you sent your horrible dad to me to ‘help!’” Audrey air-quoted irritably, and placed her hands on her hips sassily.

“Boy, oh, boy. Mal, you better go hide, because when she gets like this, it spells trouble,” Jay informed her, and Audrey spun around quickly to face her chair-bound boyfriend.

“I didn’t realize you were here!” Audrey started to angrily announce before completely losing track of what she was saying upon the sight of Jay’s hair pulled back in a tight bun and his face covered in shiny silver paint. Audrey almost shrieked as she jumped backward into Mal.

“Hello!” Mal grunted as she pushed Audrey off of her.

“I didn’t realize Evie was making you into a walking freak show, too!” Audrey exclaimed, staring at her boyfriend and watching all of her plans for a handsome prince and beautiful princess go down the toilet.

Evie silently paused in her work and looked at Audrey, slightly furrowing her brow as she disappointedly considered the other girl’s comment.

“Ouch,” Jay muttered under his breath, shooting a disdainful glance in Audrey’s direction. Mal clapped her hands quickly before anything could get out of hand, and she grabbed Audrey’s shoulders and pulled her back as Mal took her place.

“Evie has done an excellent job with all of these people and I couldn’t be prouder of her,” Mal complimented and happily noted Evie’s quick recovery as the bluenette puffed up with a renewed self-confidence. Evie happily returned to her work on Jay and Mal smiled softly as she realized that the crisis was officially averted.

“And, Audrey, did you finish all of your decorating?” Mal questioned.

“Thankfully yes. I couldn’t stand another moment with that heathen!” Audrey complained almost dramatically as she offered a heavy eyeroll to all who were watching.

“Well, he is the god of the Underworld and technically that’s where heathens come from,” Uma informed her, tilting her head in a gesture of nonchalance.

Audrey furrowed her brow, and Mal opened her mouth to try to express some sort of peacemaking statement, but Evie quickly started speaking and provided a distraction.

“Audrey, go into the closet over there and look at your costume I made you. It’s the pink one.” Mal surreptitiously released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. After all, trying to keep everyone at peace when Audrey was so easily riled and Uma so easily took an opportunity to rile was certainly not a simple task.

“That should be unmistakable,” Uma chuckled heartily as Audrey strode over and opened it, searching through the costumes.

Before Mal even had a chance to prepare herself for what had to be a siren, Audrey let loose with a screech of what Mal could only hope was joy and excitement.

“Babe!” Jay cried in protest, rubbing at his ears as Evie winced, working her jaw in an attempt to rid herself of the ringing in her ears. Even Uma jumped in surprise at Audrey’s sudden extremely loud noise.

Audrey started jumping up and down as if she were a little girl, and Mal decided that her scream had to have been a good sign.

“It’s beautiful!!!” Audrey exclaimed, pulling the way too large for life pink dress out of the closet and Evie turned to face her with a big smile just before Audrey dove against her for a huge hug.

“Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you’re not making me one of the circus monkeys!” Audrey gratefully cried as she practically smothered Evie with her tight squeeze. Despite the insult directed to her and her costume idea, Evie happily accepted Audrey’s affection.

“You’re welcome!” Evie replied with just as much enthusiasm as she returned Audrey’s tight hold.

Audrey quickly pulled back with a huge smile, looking at her costume a bit closer and almost launching into another fit of pure joy as she noticed the absurdly tall crown in a bag hanging from the side of the dress.

“It comes with a CROWN!!!” Audrey squealed gleefully, and Uma raised an eyebrow.

“So now you can be a _royal_ pain in the a-”

Evie immediately stopped as she turned to keep working on Jay and cleared her throat loudly, throwing Uma a reprimanding look.

“She’s got by the word police now,” Carlos murmured with a grin as he looked between Evie and Uma. “It’s a showdown, but ol’ Sheriff Evie’s sure to win.”

Uma furrowed her brow as she regarded Evie but eventually let out a breath before revising her statement to better fit into Evie’s high expectations and requirements.

“Butt…”

“And Sheriff Evie of the word police has arrested the perpetrator,” Carlos quietly announced to Gil who seemed to be the only one who was really much paying attention to what he was saying.

“But Uma’s not wearing handcuffs,” Gil confusedly pointed out. Carlos just shook his head, unable to perceive just how Jay and Gil managed to get along so well due to the massive intelligence difference between the two.

“Yeah, it’s just a joke, Gil.”

“Oh! Haha… Hehe… I don’t get it.”


	8. We're Late for a Very Important Date!!!

“I’ve finally got here,” Ben proclaimed to the room as he entered, and Mal’s gaze quickly rose to see her husband. To her complete and utter surprise, he was already dressed for the Halloween party apparently and he was wearing a velvety emerald suit with a fancy matching top hat.

However, before she could even begin to make a comment about what he was wearing, his eyes settled on her outfit and he seemed starstruck as he took it all in. His eyes widened as he unashamedly gaped at every aspect of her dress and ruby red heels.

Ben swallowed, grinning as he finally brought his eyes back to her face. Mal smiled back at him.

“Okay, look, y’all need to get a room. And I mean one that doesn’t have all of us in it,” Uma suddenly interjected, and Ben shook his head, getting a hold of himself. Harry chuckled under his breath at the both of them, leaning back in his chair as he strove to get comfortable in his itchy guard outfit.

“Hey, guys,” Ben greeted them all, and Evie quickly rose up as he stepped into the room a little further.

“Woah, stop!” Evie warned him, and he froze quickly, instantly obeying her command. Evie wasted no time in hurrying over to him and straightening his coat. She grabbed his top hat and positioned it on top of his head to her satisfaction. She then pulled away, patting his shoulder.

“All good now,” Evie assured him as she returned to her seat to work on her face.

“What’s he supposed to be anyway?” Uma questioned, looking at Evie or at least what she could see of her.

“He’s the Wizard of Oz,” Evie replied easily, and Mal grinned at her before rolling off the bed and moving past Carlos who was currently seated in the floor with Jay.

She walked over to her guy and grabbed his cheeks in her hands examining his face and hat a little closer. Ben smiled back at her, placing his hands on her waist as his thumbs gently traced the gathers of the dress. However, after only a moment, Mal shot a wicked glance in Evie’s direction before reaching for his top hat sneakily.

“M, if you even so much as touch that, I’m going to transform you into a flying monkey,” Evie told her without even taking her eyes off of her reflection in the mirror as she applied makeup on her bottom eyelid, and Mal just laughed in response. Evie smiled just barely and glanced in her direction with an eyebrow raise.

“Don’t test me. I can do it in record time,” Evie informed her, and Mal decided she wasn’t going to test Evie’s abilities today.

“Ooh! We could be monkey buddies!” Gil laughed as he hopped to his feet, whooping and trying his best to sound like a primate. Uma just shared an unimpressed glance with Harry, watching the boy jump around.

“Booooo!!!” Gil howled, and Uma held back the urge to laugh at the look on Audrey’s and Ben’s faces as they stared at the nutcase. They obviously weren’t used to people acting like they were completely off their rocker. Of course, Gil probably was.

“You sound like a broken ghost, man,” Jay expressed, and Uma finally snorted, unable to hold back her mirth any longer at the expense of the two Auradon kids in the room.

Carlos shook his head as he looked away from the scene and in the direction of the window. However, his eyes widened as he suddenly happened to notice how dark it was starting to get outside. Carlos quickly shifted his glance to Audrey.

“Hey, Audrey?” the pink princess averted her gaze from the frightening sight of Gil’s craziness so that she was politely listening to the white-haired boy.

“Yes?”

“When does your party start? It’s getting dark,” Carlos told her worriedly, and Audrey grabbed Ben’s arm, pulling it away from Mal so she could read his watch. She gasped loudly before letting the appendage fall down as she hurried for her purse.

Uma and Mal shared a glance, shrugging as they watched the other girl scurry around. Evie never paused in applying her makeup, officially in her zone of complete focus.

“We’ve got to go now!” Audrey commanded, rushing to Jay and taking his wrist in her hand quickly. Mal picked up Ben’s arm and looked at his wrist to check the time. She dropped it swiftly and started picking up her stuff. Uma got off the bed and walked over to Ben, grabbing his arm.

He looked at her questioningly, obviously wondering why she was looking at the time after Mal and Audrey already confirmed that they were running late. Uma met his eyes and grinned wickedly.

“Just thought since everybody else was doing it, I’d try it out, too. Just to see what the appeal is,”

“And was it interesting?”

“Nah,” Uma replied with a big grin full of mischief then turned and let go of him.

Harry arose from his chair and Gil followed him and Uma obediently out the door. Audrey dragged Jay out with her and Carlos quickly hurried behind them. Ben strode out the door after that, and Mal started to follow, but she stopped when she realized that Evie was still sitting and working on her makeup.

“Evie? C’mon, we’re gonna be late,” Mal told her, trying to get her to move. Evie glanced in her direction and sighed deeply before gathering the things that she needed for her face makeover. Evie stood up and walked in Mal’s direction, much too focused on what she was painting on instead of where she was going.

Mal grabbed her shoulders as the bluenette nearly ran into her, and she directed Evie out the door carefully and firmly.

Before long, they were at the bottom of the castle and heading out the main doors.

“Okay, let’s hop in your limo and split,” Jay told Audrey as she pulled him down the final set of stairs with her.

“It isn’t here. My driver headed back to my place and it won’t get here in time for the party’s starting,” Audrey worriedly spoke. Mal shrugged her shoulders, smiling at Ben.

“Well, we’ll just take one of ours,” Mal offered, looking at all of them before glancing at Ben expectantly.

However, Ben suddenly got a sheepish look on his face and he furrowed his brow as he grinned guiltily.

“Actually… All the limos are in the auto shop,” Ben pronounced carefully, quite embarrassed by the fact that no vehicles were available in such a time of need.

“Bro, really?” Carlos questioned with his eyebrows raised in shock, conveying just what a stupid idea he thought it was. “And that was a good idea for what reason?”

“We could take Charlene,” Evie suggested, gesturing at the blue Jeep Renegade not too far from the group. Mal raised an eyebrow skeptically, remembering well their entire journey with that cursed automobile.

“Nah, I think we’re all good on that. Besides, are you still seriously calling that thing a human name?” Uma questioned. Evie pursed her lips as she put on her lipstick, looking in Uma’s direction disdainfully.

“Of course. Charlene’s part of the family now!” Evie informed her before rubbing her lips together in an attempt to spread the makeup.

“I would fly us there, but I’ve never tried it before. I’d really rather that I had more practice before we used that method as a means of travel,” Mal explained and Uma immediately looked at her, raising her eyebrows and couldn’t help but think how cool it would be to arrive at the party on a giant dragon.

Audrey, on the other hand, was more focused on her party. Her eyes went wide as she realized there was absolutely no fast way to get there in time. After a moment of nearly panicking and kneading the fabric of her large poofy pink dress, she narrowed her eyes in determination, knowing that standing around wouldn’t help anything.

“Let’s run there,” Audrey offered in a way that was really more of a command before taking off with poor Jay in tow. Everyone shared a glance before running behind her without too much hesitation.

“I really don’t think this is the best option,” Mal expressed her opinion, trying to run in heels as effectively and effortlessly as Evie and Audrey seemed to be doing. Seriously, how did Evie get blessed with such knowledge? Mal mentally noted to ask Evie how to do it later.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, now move it!” Audrey replied shortly, not stopping to argue any further with the faerie.

They were off to a good start in terms of pace, but the school was about three or five miles away from Ben’s castle.

Which was why after running down the road in the direction of the school for about ten minutes, everyone started to lose breath and slow down significantly simply because they knew that they were never going to make it in time

Uma kept a mostly neutral look on her face despite her obvious tiredness, and Mal could feel her ankles start to weaken with the strength required to hold her feet in firm place in the shoes she was wearing.

Harry and Gil slowed to match pace with Uma, while Ben and Evie hovered around Mal. Carlos slowed down with them because he truly didn’t have the energy to keep running as fast as Audrey seemed to be insisting upon.

Audrey glanced back in the others’ direction, seeing that several were starting to fall far behind.

“Come on, we’ve got to hurry up and move!” Audrey yelled at them, her hand firmly locked around Jay’s wrist as they all were all nearly jogging in their haste to get to the party in time. “This is my party and I cannot be late! It’ll look terrible if the hostess is not one of the first people to be there!”

Mal rolled her eyes, and nearly lost her balance as she lost focus on her concentrated running in heels. Ben quickly dove in and lifted her back on her feet as they hurried down the sidewalk.

She squeezed his arm in thanks, but ultimately dedicated her attention to the nearby bluenette as she watched Evie carefully while Evie multitasked, simultaneously rubbing the brown paint on her nose and looking into her compact mirror. Mal’s eyes widened as she noticed that Evie was headed straight for a pole. The purple-haired girl grabbed Evie’s arm that had the compact and yanked her out of the way of the metal obstruction, saving her for the second time since they started out from the Mal-dubbed room of torture.

“M!” Evie squeaked before realizing that she had nearly smacked directly into the pole. “Thank you,” she grinned sweetly at Mal, placing a hand on her cheek quickly before continuing in her run. Mal smiled back at her as they rushed to the school.

“Ben, honest to goodness, where is your limo when we need it?” Uma questioned, sounding like she had been running a marathon. Of course, Mal guessed that the pirate had. The run between Ben’s castle and Auradon Prep was not a short one.

“Who’s aging now?” Mal jibed at Uma breathlessly, and Uma narrowed her eyes as she realized her own words from earlier had been used against her.

“Just asking for your benefit, sweetheart,” Uma bitingly shot back in response to the faerie.

“Like I said, the limos are all having maintenance done!” Ben replied, barely even panting as he easily kept up with the lot of them.

“And let me just reiterate… Dude, that was such a bad idea!!!” Carlos told him unashamedly, and Ben looked at the ground with a slight chuckle of embarrassment.

“Yeah…”

“You should’ve at least thought of backup!” Carlos cried, and Ben’s eyes suddenly widened in excitement as he grinned.

“I did! Well, it wasn’t intended to be backup, but it can be!” Ben cried out and he ran across the street quickly. Everyone quickly came to a stop and stared.

“What is he doing?” Audrey questioned furiously and Jay winced as her grip grew even tighter around his wrist.

“Hey, foxy, you think you could maybe let me go before my hand falls off my arm?” Jay asked weakly, and Audrey released her grip immediately, furrowing her brow in worry as she looked at him. Jay shook his hand out, trying to rid himself of the unpleasant sensation that was left behind.

“Thank you…”

“Y’know, you guys, I did offer for us to take Charlene,” Evie informed them as she lifted her burlap hat to paint the skin that was underneath it.

Audrey’s eyes went absurdly wide as she gaped at the bluenette, remembering the last time they went somewhere in Evie’s blue Jeep Renegade. Uma had terrorized Audrey constantly, they had gotten a flat tire, and were dragged to the police station for questioning and a case of false accusation for stealing.

“Yeah… Probably not a good idea, E. We all couldn’t have fit. Especially the jolly green giant over here,” Mal gestured toward Harry who was currently fully dressed in his guard outfit, a fancy custom-made spear in his firm grasp. He rolled his eyes, mostly ignoring the significantly shorter girl.

However, Uma was certainly not going to pass up the opportunity to pick on Mal.

“Well, not everybody’s a shrimp.”

“That’s kind of funny coming from Shrimpy herself,” Mal quipped, shooting Uma a mischievous glance. Uma set her jaw, that nickname getting under her skin quite possibly more than any other word could.

“That is funny!” Gil suddenly piped up and Uma stiffened, knowing it was coming just because Gil was that frustratingly oblivious to common sense.

Gil leaned over to Audrey carefully and quietly and started whispering much too loud.

“Mal used to call her Shrimpy because she wasn’t big or bad enough to be in Mal’s gang,” Gil informed the pink princess. Uma growled under her breath as she grabbed the front of Gil’s monkey costume, yanking him into Harry.

“Keep Mister Monkey Business under control,” Uma instructed Harry and when Gil started to speak, Harry immediately placed a mitten-covered hand over the son of Gaston’s mouth. Gil’s eyes widened innocently, and Harry shook his head at the other boy.

They all quieted for a moment, wondering where Ben had gone as Audrey’s foot tapped at nearly ninety miles a minute.

“Okay, if Benjamin doesn’t get back here in five minutes, we are leaving and going to the party without him,” Audrey announced, and Mal internally pleaded for Ben to hurry up some. Mal looked over at Evie as she tried to put the final touches on her mouth.

Suddenly, there was the sound of motors running and the group gaped as a group of motorcycles approached them. They all gaped as they noticed the many colors and how several of them had cabs attached to the side.

“Guys, I have found exactly what we need!” Ben called as him and several other people helped bring the vehicles over to all of them. Mal smiled widely as she saw the particular prints and names written on the sides of the bikes.

“I was saving this for Christmas, but like Audrey said, desperate times call for desperate measures,” Ben told them, smiling lopsidedly as he stuffed his hands in the emerald shaded coat.

Mal hurried over to him and kissed him soundly in response to his absolutely sweet gift.

“Thank you, baby!” Mal excitedly told him before looking at hers more closely.

“Why didn’t I get one?” Harry asked, an eyebrow raised and a pout on his face as he searched for his ride disappointedly.

“I wanted to wait until you learned how to use it before you got one,” Ben explained his reasoning behind not getting Harry one of his own. Uma just rolled her eyes at the two guys before suddenly noticing one bike in particular that was a pretty shade of sea-foam green with a skull on it.

“You got me one?” Uma questioned, surprised and strangely touched by his efforts, but she quickly raised an eyebrow as she finally fully registered the cabs on either side of the motorcycle, one of them marked with a hook and the other marked with a yellow glove. “Two cabs? Seriously?” Ben nodded in response with a laugh.

“Yeah, I figured since you could drive it, Harry and Gil could ride around with you.”

Uma suddenly got a weird look on her face but nodded in response with a much too large to be genuine grin.

“Yep, I’ll drive ‘em just fine,” Uma reiterated his statement, and Mal couldn’t help but question Uma’s actual abilities to get her poor crew to the school safely.

Gil hopped into his side of the motorcycle quickly and easily happily buckling in quickly. However, Harry regarded his cab with much more trepidation as he slowly and very nervously stepped over to it as if he knew the mortal danger that he would surely be in.

Evie looked at hers with an overjoyed expression.

“I love her! I’m going to name you Carmen!” Evie proudly announced to the group. Mal held back a laugh at the sight of her best friend dressed up in a ridiculous scarecrow outfit and almost looking like she might kiss the motorcycle.

“Why do you name absolutely every vehicle you own?” Audrey questioned with an unimpressed look as Jay mounted his motorcycle happily and she examined the part of the seat just behind him carefully.

“I have to name her or she’ll be jealous of Charlene! Besides, every vehicle is unique and deserves a name,” Evie told her with a big smile. However, she quickly furrowed her brow in disappointment as she realized that she couldn’t drive her bike. After all, she was still trying to work on her makeup.

“You all have your own bikes and cabs, except for Audrey and me. Audrey can ride on the back of Jay’s. I’ll just ride in Mal’s cab,” Ben informed them all before heading over to Mal’s bike. Evie quickly hurried over to him, grabbing his arm.

“Hey, Ben, do you mind riding mine? I can’t because I’ve got to make some last-minute adjustments to this look I’m sporting,” Evie pleaded, looking at him with those irresistible soulful eyes that no one could seem to say no to.

Sure enough, Ben easily agreed in response to the bluenette.

“Of course, Evie. I’ll take care of Carmen,” Ben chuckled, and Evie squeezed his arm fondly with a big one-thousand-watt grin.

“Thank you!” Evie expressed before stepping into and situating herself in the cab attached to Mal’s motorcycle.

Everyone started to get in and on their cabs and motorcycles respectively.

Jay mounted his bike and kept his foot firmly planted on the ground so Audrey could get on behind him. Audrey very hesitantly hiked up the skirt of her dress and carefully mounted with him. He handed her a helmet and she carefully put it on, stuffing her foldable crown in her purse. She quickly clung onto his middle tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder to talk to him as he revved the engine a bit.

“You aren’t going to drive like a crazy person, are you?” Audrey checked with him, her nose touching his ear as she spoke. Jay turned his head just a bit so she caught the dangerously mischievous look in his eye.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked before taking off as fast as he could on the bike.

Audrey immediately went into a screeching fit.


	9. And So the Party Begins

“Let me out o’ ‘ere!” Harry cried out just as Uma came to a halt in front of the school. As soon as she slowed enough, he swiftly unbuckled and practically jumped out of the cab that he was in. Gil just laughed joyfully, enjoying every minute of the way too fast, way too dangerous driving that Uma had just done.

Jay and Audrey whizzed by quickly, and Uma could easily hear her very loud protests. She smirked at the pink princess’s expense, figuring that Jay was taking the girl for a lap around the block just to mess with her.

“Oi, I might kiss the ground,” Harry breathed in relief, interrupting her enjoyment of Audrey’s misfortunes, and Uma rolled her eyes as she turned the key, shutting off the motorcycle.

“Oh, shut up, Chicken Little. You weren’t that close to dying,”

“Was that before or after you nearly ran over in the other lane as a lost big-rig was heading your way?” Mal questioned, full of snark as she dismounted her bike. Uma just huffed in response, choosing not to express her feelings verbally as she grabbed Harry by the back of his coat and started trying to drag him to his feet.

“Come on, you wuss,” Uma told him, and he stood up quickly. Uma took hold of his shoulder in one hand and started dusting him off with the other, trying to clear whatever dirt that he could have gotten on him.

“Man, you are nasty! Boy, I didn’t drive through that much debris!” Uma exclaimed.

Harry just enveloped her in his arms, successfully displacing whatever dirt he could get on her. Uma pushed back halfheartedly, trying to get away, but she ended up just holding onto him back, sticking her tongue out and trying to touch it to his face to aggravate him. However, he just laughed at her, moving his head back every time she hopped up to lick him.

Mal rolled her eyes before turning to Evie and locking her arm with hers, pulling her out of the cab. Evie stepped out with Mal’s force and examined herself closely in her mirror. Mal winced, noticing what the pothole in the road had caused Evie to do to herself.

“Did the bump mess it up too bad?” Mal asked with a slight wince as Evie furiously started dabbing tan onto her face where the brown had been streaked.

“Don’t worry, I can fix it if I’m quick,” Evie assured her, and Mal watched as the blemish almost magically disappeared before her very eyes. Mal pursed her lips in an expression conveying just how impressed she was with Evie’s work.

“Wow, nice. This girl’s got mad skills,” Mal joked, throwing her hands up with a mischievous grin, and Evie laughed at her silliness.

Jay finally drove up, revving his motor loudly with a smirk on his face. Mal shook her head at him, unable to resist smiling in response to his craziness. Audrey was clung on tightly to him, her fingers digging into his chest and her arms practically stuck to his sides as she held on for dear life.

“So, how was that, foxy?” Jay questioned and Audrey’s eyes shot open as she realized that the motorcycle had finally stopped and that she thankfully wouldn’t die today. She swiftly slapped the back of his helmet before dismounting the motorcycle in the midst of her anger.

Mal shared a glance with Evie who was just beside her and Ben who had just materialized nearby and they started to move away from the couple. Carlos quickly followed the three. Uma raised an eyebrow, but ultimately decided she really didn’t want anything to do with the conflict either and she whistled, snapping her fingers and calling her crewmates over to her so they could get away.

“You mean, mean boy!” Audrey scolded, starting to head off in the direction that everyone else was slowly migrating to in an attempt to avoid her angry wrath.

Jay quickly hopped off of his bike and grabbed her around the waist, keeping her from going any further. Audrey squeaked, trying to pry his hands off of her in the midst of her stubbornness and he spun her around, touching his nose to hers.

“I’d never let anything happen to you,” he assured her in that strong, confident sort of way that only he could pull off. But a lot of his effect was ruined with the look of the silvery paint on his face and the costume’s glint. Nevertheless, against her will, her heart fluttered at his words and she huffed, trying to act like she was mad.

“Come on, we need to get to the party,” she informed him and started trying to pull away. He rolled his eyes, but kept his arm firmly wrapped around her as they followed the rest of the group. Audrey fought him for a just a moment, but soon enough, settled into the surprisingly silky fabric of his costume.

They soon made it to where the others were standing and waiting for them, just outside of the door that led inside the ballroom from outside. Audrey noticed that Mal was in deep conversation with Evie about who knew what. But if Mal’s evil grin had anything to do with it, she was likely people-watching and making fun of them as they went by.

Jane had been united with Carlos and they were standing together on the steps, their youthful smiles lighting everything brighter than the sun. However, it was all Audrey could do not to laugh when she realized that Jane was dressed as an actual sunflower. Her face was painted brown and big yellow petals stemmed from her head at all angles so she looked like a big flower.

Audrey forced herself to regain regal composure so that she wouldn’t burst out laughing in such an unladylike manner. Audrey quickly walked up the steps and started to reach for Ben’s wrist to look at the time. However, before she had to, he held his arm out for her to look. She sent him a grateful glance before reading the time. It was six fifty-nine. She smiled relievedly at all of them, glad that they had gotten there just in the nick of time.

“Okay, let’s go in,” Audrey breathed, and the group filed in with Jay and Audrey coming first in line.

The many people that were very unfortunately already there turned around and stared as they entered the room, as was the norm at any large gathering. Especially one where the hostess might as well have been late to the party with how close she cut the start time.

Audrey immediately put on a reserved smile that was only fitting of the party princess. Jay was immediately uncomfortable at all of the attention he was receiving as a direct result of his girlfriend’s status. She could feel him wanting to bolt, but she kept a firm hold on his arm as they pushed through the crowd. Audrey, waving sweetly at all who were watching them, moved through the lot of them carefully and gently.

They finally arrived at the uplifted stage where waltz music usually played during more formal assemblies.

Audrey glanced at Jay reassuringly, trying to convey some of her confidence in the light of being stared at to him. Jay looked at her for a moment before sighing deeply, straightening to an almost regal sort of posture. Audrey couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat, despite the silliness of it all considering what they were wearing.

He helped her up onto the stage and took a few steps back, smiling slightly at her as he eyed her from head to toe admiringly. Audrey willed the blush off of her face and she took the microphone in her hands with a breath to steady herself.

“Hello, everyone, and thank you for coming!” Audrey greeted the crowd. There was a general uproar in return and Audrey smiled at all of them, trying to push away the insecurities left that surrounded the incident that had occurred not so long ago.

“And Happy Halloween!” All of the people hooted again for her announcement. Audrey could feel herself coming down from all of the tightly wound up worry as she settled into her comfort zone.

“I love everyone’s costumes! And speaking of costumes… A good friend of mine, Evie,” Audrey pointed at the bluenette that was currently sporting scarecrow chic and Evie waved at her happily, “made my dress tonight so I can look like the wonderful Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz.” Audrey waited a moment before continuing.

“Actually, all of my best friends are dressed as Wizard of Oz characters including my very own boyfriend who is the Tin-Man,” Audrey acknowledged and Evie and Mal took hold of each of Jay’s arms to keep him in place so he wouldn’t sneak away.

“But I digress from _our_ looks. Let me proudly announce what we will be doing for the party. Over there are sweets and various spooky confections,” Audrey gestured in the direction of the snack table that was heavily laden with cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. Carlos, Gil, Harry, and Jay immediately started staring at it and almost drooling over the pure beauty of the delicious treats.

“Outside there is bobbing for apples in the large tubs on the grass, there’s plenty of dancing to be done and props that you can take pictures with in here, and the newest addition to our Halloween Bash – a pumpkin patch outside that you can pick your own jack o’ lantern from and take with you to decorate before you leave!” Audrey proudly proclaimed, confidently looking over the crowd of people just before her.

“So, without further ado, let the Annual Halloween Bash commence!” Audrey called out to them all and the crowd let loose with thunderous clapping and yelling. Audrey backed away from the microphone, starting down the stairs. Jay was immediately there to receive her and she couldn’t help but grin widely at him with the pure excited vibes given off by the gathering of people.

Uma shook her head slightly, looking over at her crew that had been intensely staring at the confection table ever since Audrey brought attention to it.

“Harry, Gil, why don’t you go and get something sweet?” Uma suggested and Gil immediately took off for the chocolate.

However, before Harry left, he swooped down and locked lips with Uma, successfully surprising her. Uma unconsciously clutched at the fur of his costume on his shoulder. Before she could get too into it, he pulled back from her, raising an eyebrow as he gave her face a onceover. Uma just gaped at him blankly, all coherent thoughts flying away.

“What? Ye said get somethin’ sweet,” Harry suavely joked, and Uma rolled her eyes, letting go of him as the spell she was under was broken by his words.

“Get out of here, you dog,” Uma scolded, but the way her eyes lingered on his lips told him everything he needed to know about her true emotions. Harry just grinned wolfishly and left the group, following Gil.

Carlos watched this entire exchange, and Harry’s confidence as well as consequential success with Uma seemed to stir something within himself.

“Hey, Jane?” Carlos hesitantly questioned, and the blue-eyed girl looked at him quickly, a smile on her face as she regarded him.

“Would you like to dance?” he carefully questioned. Jane’s face immediately lit up in an even bigger grin.

“Yeah!” she breathlessly replied with an almost dopey look on her face, and he quickly led her off to the dance floor where he was truly in his element.

Audrey looked at Jay expectantly, but all he had eyes for at the moment was the massive amount of sweets waiting on the table where Gil and Harry were currently making pigs of themselves.

“Jay?” she called, trying to get his attention so maybe he would get the message that his very important, currently neglected girlfriend that so loved to dance wanted a dance with her one and only boyfriend. He looked at her quizzically, but quickly returned to drooling over the cupcakes.

“Don’t you want to dance?” Audrey finally broke down and asked him directly, worried that he would never get it on his own without some extra prodding.

“I will later. Right now, some chocolate’s calling my name,” Jay replied to her and started off. Audrey growled under her breath and followed him swiftly, trying to convince him to dance first.

Uma wickedly smiled as she watched the pink princess, sharing a significant glance with Mal. Mal furrowed her brow and looked at Uma with a strange expression, tilting her head slightly as she tried to understand Uma’s meaning.

Evie spotted the look, too, and started to look between Mal and Evie, trying to understand the silent conversation.

Uma raised an eyebrow at the both of them, unimpressed, and shot a glance in Ben’s direction, trying to convey that she wanted him gone. Mal quickly picked up on it, and she bit her lip as she quickly thought about how she was going to politely send him away so she could figure out what Uma wanted.

“Hey, baby?” Mal got his attention and he turned to her sweetly.

“Yeah?” he quickly answered, placing his hand on hers that was resting on his arm. Mal grinned at him, trying to disarm him of any suspicions of trickery.

“Why don’t you go and talk to some of your old friends that you haven’t seen in a while? Being king has kind of taken you away from them,” Mal told him sympathetically, sending him into a line of thought completely aside from anything Mal might be doing.

“You’re right. I’ll go do that. It’ll be nice to catch up with them,” Ben told her with a smile, but it dissipated swiftly as he furrowed his brow in thought. He looked at Mal somewhat worriedly. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, definitely. You’re all the time sending me to hang with my friends if you even so much as barely think I haven’t seen them in the last twenty minutes. You go have fun, and take a break,” Mal instructed, inevitably feeling bad as she sent him off. She would’ve likely done it at any other time, but she couldn’t help but feel that Uma had something mischievous up her sleeve that she was sending Ben away for.

Ben just laughed and kissed her cheek lovingly.

“Okay. I’ll see you later,” he told her before heading on his way to greet various people. Mal waved at him as he left and she turned to face Uma.

“Now what are you trying to tell me?” Mal questioned with simultaneous interest and trepidation, and Uma’s evil grin immediately returned to her face as she beckoned Mal to come outside with her. Mal and Evie shared a glance and the bluenette nodded a bit. Mal returned it and followed Uma.

Once they were outside on the dark lawn, Uma turned to look at the both of them. She moved over and put a hand on Mal’s shoulder as she stood beside her, pointing to the giant sprawl of pumpkins across the cute little area that had been cleared for the patch.

“You see those?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s impossible not to,” Mal replied. Uma didn’t let Mal’s sarcasm deter her and instead she moved her eyes so that they met Mal’s gaze.

“We’re gonna carve our names into every single one of them,” Uma grinned wickedly and Mal huffed in disbelief, knowing that Audrey would absolutely flip if they were to do that.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mal automatically responded. However, as she stared at the patch of pumpkins, she couldn’t help but think how fun it would be to ruin them and see the looks on everyone’s faces.

“C’mon, Mal! It’s harmless fun! Sure, ol’ Audy’ll get sore about it, but she’ll get over it,” Uma pleaded with her in an odd show of begging. Mal chewed the inside of her gum, feeling the need for at least a little mischief. She had gone a while without it now, and she needed just a little fix.

“M, I don’t think we should do it,” Evie told her, mirroring Uma’s position but instead standing at Mal’s right side.

The faerie couldn’t help but feel a little like there was a little angel and a little devil on each shoulder that took the form of two of her best female friends in which Uma was undoubtedly the devil and Evie was certainly the angel. Mal let out a breath, looking between Evie and Uma.

“It’s just a prank. Good grief, Halloween’s all about pranking!” Uma insisted, staring at Mal intently in a hope to convince her. Evie sighed, looking at Mal, and the purple-haired girl purposefully avoided her gentle brown-eyed gaze so she could make the decision based on what she wanted to do rather than inevitably giving in to her older sister.

Audrey would definitely be very angry, but the prank really wasn’t hurting anything, was it? Audrey would probably cool down after several days. It was just a silly prank and it wasn’t like they were wrecking her whole party or something.

Mal finally sighed, glancing up at Uma with a mischievous smile.

“How’re we doing it?”

Uma immediately broke into a wild grin and she reached into her pocket, producing three large pocket-knives. Mal’s eyes widened in mild surprise and Evie’s mouth fell open in pure shock at the fact that Uma had knives on her person the whole time and the bluenette had no idea.

“You guys take one each,” Uma instructed. Mal instinctively gravitated to the one with shiny, black scales engraved into it. She pressed the button that ejected the blade and whistled with admiration at the sharpness and shininess of the cold metal.

“Nice,” Mal complimented. Uma just grinned in response and offered Evie what was in her hand. Evie hesitantly lifted the one that was a dark blue as she stared at Uma.

“Why do you have _three_ knives?!” Evie questioned, totally in shock.

“Never know when you might need them,” Uma explained. When Evie just kept gaping at her, Uma huffed, elaborating a little more, “You know, for digging the dirt out from under your nails, that kind of thing.” Evie furrowed her brow in thought as Uma started to carefully feel her blade to test the sharpness.

“I usually just use a nail file for that…” Evie looked at Mal and she quickly yanked Mal’s knife away from her upon noticing that Mal was picking her fingernails with it as she spoke.

“E!” Mal protested, and Evie withdrew a nail file from her pocket.

“Use this instead, would you? There’s no telling how many germs are on that thing,” Evie disgustedly told her. Mal rolled her eyes and took the knife back from Evie, leaving the nail file with the bluenette. Evie sighed, giving Mal the blue pocket knife she had been offered by Uma.

“Let’s hit it while nobody’s out here,” Uma told them, and Mal quickly surged forward alongside the pirate, heading for the pumpkins. Evie hesitated for a moment, debating over it for a moment, before deciding that she had to come with them just to try to keep Mal in line.

Evie ran in the direction that the two had disappeared in and spotted Mal kneeling in her ruby red slippers and baby blue dress, swiftly and jaggedly carving the letters of her name in the surface of a pumpkin. Evie hurried over and bent down next to her.

“M, look, if you have to do this, why don’t you just scratch the surface of the,” Evie was interrupted the moment that a shape of a “M” fell on the dirt just in front of them, “pumpkin…”

Mal swiftly carved an “A” and a “L” and they landed next to the “M.” Evie’s eyes widened in wonder at the sight of the pumpkin, considering just how cool that looked. Evie met Mal’s gaze and saw Mal’s raised eyebrow. Mal smirked, offering Evie the dark blue knife that Evie had given to her. The bluenette grinned goofily at the faerie.

Mal reached over to one of the smaller pumpkins, handing it to Evie and patting her shoulder gently.

“I really shouldn’t…”

“Just do one, then, E,” Mal told her, turning to start carving more of the orange fruit. However, before she fully dedicated herself to another pumpkin, she turned to look at Evie once more, her eyes burning that infamously mischievous shade of green.

“After all, it’s pranking season.”


	10. Dances, Stolen Desserts, and Concussions

Audrey hurried after her boyfriend.

“Jay, wait!” she cried as she lost him through the large group of people. Audrey growled under her breath and pushed through her guests, finally spotting her boyfriend when the crowd parted as she got to the edge of the dance floor.

“Mmm, mmm!” Jay hummed in delight as he shoveled the last of the cookies on the plate in his mouth. Audrey huffed, but quickly paused as she realized that there were hardly any cookies at all on this side of the table. She tilted her head slightly, considering this until she suddenly saw a gloved hand reaching up from the other side of the table and blindly reaching for something to eat.

Audrey’s eyes narrowed and she silently rushed around the table. Just before the hand could grab anything to eat, the pink princess locked her grip around the mystery person’s wrist. There was a squeak, and Audrey stood quietly, waiting expectantly for the owner of the dessert-thieving hand to show herself.

Before she knew it, Celia with her large, sprawling-out hair raised up the tablecloth to look at the princess. She was dressed in something that looked like the Mad Hatter and if the detail on the outfit was anything to go by, it must have been something Evie had made for her. After taking in the younger girl’s appearance, Audrey’s eyes narrowed, unimpressed at Celia for stealing practically every dessert on this side of the table.

Celia’s eyes widened and she grinned widely as she eyed Audrey.

“Wow, you look really pretty!” Celia complimented. In just a moment, a second head peeped out and Audrey quickly recognized Dizzy, the Facilier’s best friend and most of the time unknowing partner in crime. She was dressed cutely in similar fashion to the White Rabbit, and once again, Audrey suspected Evie’s involvement.

“She definitely does! Must be one of Evie’s designs!” Dizzy grinned widely as she shared a glance with Celia. Audrey closed her eyes for a moment, trying to recollect herself in the midst of her already existent irritation with Jay.

“Why is one-third of the food on this table gone?” Audrey finally asked them. Celia and Dizzy immediately looked guilty and wide-eyed as they watched the pink princess and former Queen of Mean.

“We were hungry!” Celia cried and Dizzy nodded quickly in agreeance.

“Yeah, we had lunch like hours ago!” Celia nodded back at her, pointing at the Tremaine as she gazed up at Audrey innocently.

“How many hours ago?”

“Like two or thr-” Dizzy started to tell her and Celia quickly interrupted.

“Yeah, anyway, we’ve got our fill now!” Celia crawled out from under the table in a fluid motion, pulling Dizzy behind her quickly with a grin that was too giant to be genuine.

“See you later, Audrey!” Dizzy told her as she waved, stumbling along as Celia practically dragged her away. Audrey glared at the both of them for a moment, but let out a breath, shaking her head. They were just silly kids anyway. It wasn’t hurting anything. Just a few desserts eaten wasn’t going to ruin her party.

However, as soon as she turned back around to face her boyfriend, her frustration quickly returned. He was still too busy stuffing his face to even realize what had just happened with the two resident heathens. Audrey sighed, but put on her cutest face, trying to lure him to her.

“Jay?” Audrey batted her eyelashes, trying once again to earn his attention. Jay never even acted like he heard her. Her expression hardened once again and she returned to the same old routine that she had started just a few moments ago.

Audrey irritably followed Jay for several more long minutes as he very slowly and torturously travelled the length of the treat table, stopping and taking plenty of time when he came across something made of chocolate.

“Come to Daddy,” Jay suddenly spoke under his breath and the pink princess’s eyes snapped to him as he took a giant bite of yet another confection. Audrey rolled her eyes, watching him carefully. After he had been taking a little too long eating the chocolate, Audrey went around him and stood before him to block his path.

“Babe, what’re you doing?” he asked with a slight laugh.

“It sure would be nice if my bad boy could spare a little time for his good girl,” Audrey eyed him heatedly with a pout, trying to make him pay more attention to her than the food. Audrey placed her hands on his stomach and slid them up carefully with a feather-like touch to accentuate her words. She looked down at his lips and when she brought her gaze back to his, she noted with satisfaction his eyes were no longer dazed with chocolate craze.

Jay silently watched her as she toyed with the edges of his silvery costume where it met his neck. Audrey smiled at him with a half-lidded expression and her grin grew a little bigger when he sat his cupcake on the table.

“Why don’t we dance?” he suggested, and she was pleased to note that he actually did remember what she was wanting to do before he so rudely insisted upon eating every sweet in the entire place.

“Sounds _wonderful_,” Audrey replied sweetly as his hand went to her waist, guiding her out into the crowd alongside him as his thumb traced her side gently yet firmly.

Not too far from the two, Harry watched them leave with a slight sigh, wishing that his girl was on his arm right now and he could take her out to the dance floor as well.

“What’s wrong?” Gil suddenly questioned, his mouth full of food, and Harry shook his head with a shrug.

“Tis’ nothin’. Don’t worry ‘bout it,” the Hook boy dismissed.

“Oh, you wanna dance with Uma, don’t you? Yeah, I’d love to dance with Evie. She’s so pretty,” Gil grinned dopily, pieces of chocolate cake falling out of his mouth as he spoke.

Harry’s eyes widened a bit as he took in that particular bit of information. After only a moment, however, he internally chuckled, knowing that Evie was going to absolutely _love _that. Gil might feel that way for Evie, but it was highly unlikely that she’d ever even slightly consider the son of Gaston as a romantic interest.

However, he couldn’t help but wonder how come he never noticed it before. He would definitely have to discuss this with Uma and see if she knew anything about it.

“She is a beauty,” Harry finally decided to agree, resisting his first urge to tease Gil for his crush.

“Her hair’s just so nice. I bet it smells like blueberries,” Gil continued dreamily, and Harry couldn’t resist giggling at him.

“I sincerely doubt tha’,” Harry replied, popping a cookie in his mouth with a slight grin.

“I don’t know. I guess it really doesn’t matter, though,” Gil sighed with a dopey smile of complete and utter happiness as he thought of the bluenette.

Harry rolled his eyes at the other guy, mostly ignoring him in favor of stuffing his face.

“Where did Uma go?” Gil questioned suddenly, and Harry furrowed his brow, realizing that Gil had actually asked a very good question. The first mate straightened a bit, raising to his full height as he searched the crowd for his captain.

To his disappointment, his girlfriend was absolutely nowhere that he could see her and he raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“I dunno. Did ye see ‘er leave?”

“No. Did you?” Gil questioned, and Harry shot him an unimpressed look.

“Ye numbskull. T’wouldn’t be askin’ ye if I had.” They were quiet for a little while as they resolved to eat a few more cupcakes while they considered Uma’s location.

“Do you think Evie is with her?” Gil finally asked after a moment.

“Chances are, if Mal’s with Uma, Evie’s likely right with ‘em,” Harry responded simply before biting into another delicious chocolate chip cookie.

After what seemed like much too short of a time, Gil piped up again.

“Hey, look, there they are now!” Gil pointed excitedly and Harry turned quickly. To his complete and utter surprise, Gil was right. As soon as Harry laid eyed on his captain, however, he immediately knew that she had been up to no good. He grinned widely and shared a glance with Gil, jutting his head to the side in a gesture that conveyed the command for Gil to follow him.

They strode across the ballroom as quickly as they could manage and met up with the girls. Uma eyed them with a Cheshire cat sort of smile as they approached, and Harry placed a hand on her shoulder as he moved around to the back of her. He leaned down to her ear.

“So what were ye up to?”

“Something,” Uma shortly replied with a mischievous look in her eye. Harry softly kissed the ear that he was closest to and he easily noticed the slight shiver that went through her at the gentle contact.

He raised his gaze and watched Gil as he animatedly conversated with Mal and Evie while they politely listened to his ramblings. Harry didn’t know how he hadn’t seen Gil’s obvious crush on Evie before. His eyes just lit up in a goofy way every time he got around her, and he almost seemed to get a full body wag.

However, Evie certainly in no way shared that same attraction, and she instead looked at him with a cordial sort of posture and gaze as if she really didn’t know how to handle him. Harry had to give her kudos, though, because she pulled off a perfect look of complete lack of knowledge of Gil’s affection.

“So ‘ave ye noticed Gil’s crush on Evie?” Harry asked Uma after just a moment. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“How did you not notice it before now?” Uma shot back at him as they returned to watching the two.

“And that’s how I learned that I was an expert fisher! Or well, a fish bait,” Gil explained, pitifully proud of himself for his not so spectacular achievement. Evie grinned at him with a mask that was so good that one almost couldn’t discern it from her usual cheeriness. The only difference was that her eyes conveyed almost a “help me” sort of look instead of the “I love you” look that she kept when around people she cared about.

After only a moment, Harry got an evil grin on his face as he realized just what he could do to really mess with the bluenette.

“Oi, Gil?” the Hook boy called to get the other guy’s attention and Gil turned to face him with a smile. “Why don’t ye dance with Evie?” Gil’s eyes widened in surprise as he considered the thought, but he quickly nodded his head.

Evie’s eyes went just as wide as Gil’s but with a completely different emotion, and it was all Mal could do to keep from laughing at the other girl. Just as Gil was turning around, Evie willed herself to remove the look from her face and she gazed at him with a calm, sweet smile.

“Would you like to dance?” Gil offered, and Evie looked at Mal, suddenly getting an idea as she slid in closer to the other girl.

“Well, Mal needs me to stay here. I don’t want her to get lonely,” Evie attempted to make an excuse and Mal grabbed Evie’s shoulders firmly and guided her toward Gil.

“Don’t worry, E, I’ll be _fine_,” Mal assured her with a mischievous smile. “You go hang out with Gil.”

Gil smiled as he took her hand eagerly, pulling her along behind him as he started to push through the crowd in his excitement. Evie looked at Mal with an expression that was very odd for Evie- one of irritation and guarantees of revenge.

Mal just chuckled at her, pushing away the worry of what Evie might could do to her in retaliation, and she waved sweetly at her sister.

“So, what did ye minxes get up to, eh?” Harry questioned as soon as the two had left. Mal rolled her eyes at Harry’s meaningless flirtation and looked to Uma to explain the situation.

“We paid a little… social call to Audrey’s pumpkin patch,” Uma told him in a very vague sort of way as she chuckled under her breath. Harry raised an eyebrow curiously.

“What exactly do ye mean?”

“We vandalized Audrey’s pumpkin patch,” Mal clarified, resisting the urge to grin as she spotted a certain flying monkey guiding a scarecrow in a painfully awkward and inexperienced dance.

He swiftly dipped Evie in a clumsy manner and when Evie was upside down she met Mal’s eyes. She made a face at the shorter girl before she was pulled upright just as quickly as she had been lowered.

“And ye didn’t invite me? Yer first mate?!” Harry pouted. Uma simply patted his cheek in response.

“We only had room for two on the job. Evie was nearly overkill, but thankfully she shut up, sat down, and spent all of her time ultra-decorating one of the pumpkins,” Uma spoke.

“Well, next time, be sure to get me in on the deal! I do so love a wee bit o’ trouble,” Harry grinned wildly.

However, his smile swiftly faded when Evie suddenly came stumbling over to the lot of them, rubbing her head as she held her hat in her other hand with Gil trailing after her worriedly and looking like a kicked puppy. Mal approached her, concerned for the bluenette. Evie eyed her with a half-lidded expression of dizziness, leaning on Mal heavily as she tried to recollect her composure.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I don’t know what happened!” Gil nigh hysterically apologized to Evie. She shook her head slightly, waving her hand at him in a placating gesture.

“Evie, what happened to you?” Mal asked, wrapping a supporting arm around the taller girl.

“He accidentally dropped me, and I hit my head on the floor,” Evie explained as non-accusingly as she could muster. Mal immediately snapped her gaze to Gil, only hearing the he dropped her part of the sentence.

“The heck, dude?! I sent her to dance with you, not to get a concussion!” Mal raised her voice in the midst of her defensiveness of her sister. Uma looked to Gil, trying to hear his side of the story.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! Something tripped me, and I lost my grip while I was trying to stay on my feet. I’m so sorry, Evie,” Gil apologized once again.

“Don’t worry about it, Gil. I know it was an accident,” Evie assured him. “It’s just a little bump and it’ll go away before long.”

However, Mal was not nearly so forgiving, and Evie couldn’t help but feel reminded of their Isle heritage as Mal assumed the role of a fierce protector of her VK family. Evie quickly squeezed Mal’s shoulder, taking up her own mantle of older sister and the good influence as she tried to reassure the faerie.

Mal looked between Gil and Evie for a moment, assessing whether she should actually go through with her attack. After a moment, she settled and calmed herself.

“That’s kind of weird. There wasn’t really anything out there for you trip over,” Uma acknowledged.

“That’s one of the perks of stupidity, I suppose,” Mal murmured under her breath and Evie immediately flashed her a reprimanding glance. Mal looked back at her with only a slight hint of remorse in her eyes as they were mostly clouded over with righteous protectiveness.

“I probably just tripped over my own feet. I did that once before. You wanna hear about it?” Gil cheerfully questioned, obviously trying to move on to something else in his eagerness to make up for his mistake. Mal just stared at him and looked at Uma with an expression of disbelieving frustration.

Uma simply smirked in response and started to say something, but before Uma could even begin to finish that thought, Audrey materialized in the midst of the vast masses of people and was stomping toward the pirate captain and the faerie. It was easy to spot the murder in her eyes and the anger etched in every piece of her features.

“I think she figured out what we did,” Mal informed the dark-skinned girl, her eyes flashing with something between wicked enjoyment and fearful worry as to what would happen to them when Audrey was actually right in front of them.

“What did you do to my pumpkin patch?!!!!”


	11. Audrey's Meltdown

“Explain this!” Audrey demanded, dragging Mal and Uma out the door behind her as she nearly had a fit in front of everyone. Evie followed along, trying diligently to remain on her feet and to keep a much too eager Gil from helping her get outside.

Mal and Uma were finally released once they were both in the face of the totally marred pumpkin patch that they were primarily responsible for. Mal bit her lip, rocking on her heels in minor shame as her arm shot out to sturdy Evie who had just nearly stumbled into her. Uma, however, was a completely different story and she looked back at Audrey with a giant grin.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Uma cheekily grinned, winking at Harry as she caught his gaze. He smiled back at her just as wickedly, nudging Gil in a cue to take a stand for their captain. Halfway against her better judgement, Mal let out a sharp bark of laughter in response to her partner in crime’s audacity and undeniable guts in replying to the pink princess with such a carefree demeanor.

Audrey’s eyes widened as she gaped at the incorrigible daughter of Ursula.

“My pumpkin patch is ruined because of you two!!!” Audrey screeched in her complete and absolute lividness.

“Well, our fun is ruined because of you,” Uma sarcastically replied with a chuckle, seemingly unbothered by Audrey’s overwhelming anger.

“ARGH!!! Now my guests have nothing to carry home with them to commemorate their time at the party!”

“The pumpkins would’ve rotted anyway, and then how would they commemorate your event? They’d just show that this party was a stinky mess of mold. So, technically, me and Mal did you a favor,” Uma informed her before faking a bow and just ticking the girl off further. “You’re welcome.”

Audrey just stared at Uma, absolutely fuming to the point that Mal wouldn’t be surprised if steam started to fly out of her ears.

She took one more look at the pumpkin patch and her gaze zeroed in on the sight of Evie’s lonely pumpkin in the midst of a swamp of Mal and Uma decorated ones. Her eyes widened in anger and betrayal and she spun to look at Evie.

“You were in on this, too?!!!” Audrey demanded, and Evie brought her dazed eyes to look at the other girl.

“I was in on what?” Evie questioned, trying to collect herself in the midst of her splitting headache that had just started. Uma rolled her eyes at the bluenette but grinned, fully proud of her positively wicked antics.

Audrey stared at the three of them, completely furious. However, before Mal could truly even register the change, Audrey’s expression morphed from unbridled rage to the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

Uma lost whatever humor she may have had at the expense of the pink princess in favor of complete bafflement. She didn’t actually intend for the other girl to cry over it. Sure, she aimed for anger, but never crying.

“I can’t believe all of you!!!” Audrey cried, finally bursting into tears before turning swiftly and stomping off in the direction of the ballroom, most definitely heading toward her dorm.

Jay had just managed to get through all of the people and he made it to the door as Audrey arrived. Jay started to say something to her, but she quickly shoved past the Tin-Man, her giant pink dress squished between her boyfriend and the doorway as she disappeared somewhere inside, her entire body shaken by sobs. Jay raised his eyebrows in a mixture of worry and shock, and he looked back at the lot of them.

“What did you guys do to her?”

“It’s called calculated aggravation,” Mal put a name to the technique, her face overtaken by a sympathetic expression. “And Uma just overdid it. Bigtime.”

“What?! I’m innocent!” Uma tried to defend herself, but her tone showed her obvious bewilderment, which severely took away from the entire effect.

“Yeah, no,” Mal shortly responded, and the extreme guilt she was feeling was evident on her face.

Jay just shook his head, looking back in the direction that Audrey had disappeared to. He threw Uma a dirty look before glancing at Harry with an equally nasty expression.

“Why did you let her do this?” Jay accusingly asked Harry as if he had any control over his captain and her occasional craziness that she started. Harry immediately didn’t like the other boy’s tone, and he resorted to his default sarcasm and jeering to deflect the attack.

“Aww, how adorable! Big bad Jay defendin’ his girl!” Harry antagonized, and Uma lightly smacked his stomach just behind her. He stopped in his mirth, noticing that Uma was completely unimpressed and looked more irritated than anything.

“Dadgum it, now we gotta apologize! Man, I hate eating hawk,” Uma complained, mad about the fact that she actually felt bad for the pink princess that she had so effectively pushed over the edge.

“Um, I’m mostly sure it’s eating crow,” Evie couldn’t help but point out, her wits returning to her finally. Now if only she could reduce the pain in her head.

“I know, but I’m eating the hawk of war because I’m trying to bring out the dove of peace,” Uma groaned, explaining herself as they all started on their way to the dorms where Audrey was no doubt in a puddle.

“Surprisingly poetic for someone who’s anything but,” Mal sarcastically remarked.

“Har, har.”

After a seemingly never-ending trek from the courtyard to the dorms, they finally approached the halls where the dorms were.

“So which one does ol’ Audy live in?” Uma asked, placing a hand on her hip.

“You oughtta remember. We did break in and everything not too long ago,” Mal wickedly shot at the pirate, and Uma returned her snark with a slightly unimpressed look. Mal knew precisely where the dorm was, but she was just giving Uma a hard time because she could.

“C’mon, it’s this way,” Jay instructed, interrupting the entire exchange as he led them to the right place. They finally came to a stop in front of an offensively decorated dorm door with all sorts of flowers and other décor covering it.

“Why am I not surprised?” Uma questioned, taking in the garish appearance of the entire look of the entrance before looking to Mal expectantly.

Everyone just stared at Uma, wordlessly placing the responsibility of knocking upon Uma’s shoulders. Uma didn’t move for a moment, but she finally groaned loudly before rapping on the door.

“Hey, Audrey? It’s us,” Uma raised her voice so that she could be heard on the other side of the door.

“Don’t come in!” Audrey angrily yelled at the group. Mal sighed and moved beside Uma before trying the door carefully. Quite fortunately for the lot of them, Audrey had obviously neglected to lock it behind her.

Mal turned to face everyone behind her quietly.

“Okay, so Harry, Gil, and Jay, stay out here, okay? We’re going to go and fix what we caused,” Mal instructed.

Harry and Gil easily nodded, not minding avoiding the drama at all. However, Jay looked a little more hesitant, but he ultimately decided Audrey would probably not want a large audience.

Mal then moved through the door, her hand firmly locked around Uma’s wrist as she dragged her along behind her. Unlike Uma, Evie was willingly following.

Evie shut the door behind them, and Mal let go of Uma in favor of approaching the princess laying on the bed in a heap of puffy pink dress. Mal shared a glance with Uma and Evie before sitting down on the bed beside Audrey gently.

Mal hesitantly reached out a hand and tapped Audrey’s shoulder. Audrey immediately huffed, trying to move away from Mal.

“I should’ve locked the door,” the brunette mumbled resentfully, and Evie came and sat on the other side of the girl. The blue-haired girl started to stroke Audrey’s hair, running her fingers through it soothingly.

Evie might not have had magic in the traditional sense of the word, but she certainly had a magic in calming people. That was evident as Audrey lost some of her tenseness as she relaxed under Evie’s ministrations.

“What’s wrong?” Evie tenderly questioned in a way that conveyed that she wanted to know the true, deeper reason for why Audrey was so upset. Mal easily recognized her tone from many a time that she had talked Mal down from a ledge. Audrey simply sighed, remaining quiet for several moments.

Uma raised an eyebrow at Mal, successfully conveying her doubt that they were ever going to get anything out of the princess. Mal tilted her head slightly, giving Uma a look that signified for a need of Uma’s patience.

“Today’s been really stressful for me,” Audrey finally opened up. Mal offered Uma a smug grin as Audrey successfully proved Mal right.

“I’m sure so. You’ve been working so hard on this,” the scarecrow girl reassuringly sympathized.

“Hades took forever to come, and I thought it was going to be a disaster. And he was the most irritating human being ever!” Audrey lamented. Evie just nodded, gently scratching the girl’s scalp as she listened.

“Then I thought we were going to be late, and Jay tried to kill me.

“And then Uma and Mal ruined it all… And you helped them!” Audrey suddenly announced, raising up to face Evie with a hurt look.

“To E’s credit, she tried desperately to stop us, and as for the pumpkin that she did decorate… Well, Uma’s not the best influence ever,” Mal piped up, and Audrey’s tearstained face turned to face Mal quickly, a little startled as she realized that the other girl was there in the room.

“Yeah, I’m here, too,” Mal somewhat awkwardly waved, and Evie chuckled under her breath, her lips curving into a smile as she looked at her best friend.

“I’m pilfering through your junk over here,” Uma announced as she looked through the many drawers of Audrey’s dresser. They all stared at her, completely unimpressed.

“Listen, Audrey, I wanted to tell you that I am really sorry about messing up your pumpkin patch. I shouldn’t have helped Uma do it,” Mal apologized, resting her hand on Audrey’s softly.

“I’m sorry, too,” Evie added, a hand on Audrey’s back as she spoke.

Audrey looked into Mal’s eyes for a moment, and finally nodded at her, seemingly accepting the apology.

“Dang, are you an underwear model or something? I’ve never seen so many lacy bras and skivvies,” Uma announced, and Audrey’s face immediately lit up like a Christmas tree in the midst of her embarrassment.

“Get out of my drawer!!!” Audrey yelled, but she couldn’t resist a small laugh that broke through against her will.

Uma shrugged, shutting it firmly before looking at Audrey with a more sincere expression as her features softened.

“Look, I really am sorry. There ain’t no excuse for it. I guess I just wanted to have a little fun, and I had no idea it upset you like this,” Uma gestured at her, talking about the tears that had been shed earlier.

Audrey nodded slightly, accepting the apology.

“Now… Why don’t we head back to the party?” Mal asked her, smiling sweetly. Audrey nodded before glancing into the mirror not too far from them. She gasped, staring at the reflection of an utter makeup disaster.

“Let’s get that cleaned up first, though…”


	12. The Seance Disaster

“You know, I didn’t think I would be, but I’m really looking forward to this,” Jane informed Audrey as they all walked through the halls, headed to the library where the Ouija board was going to be and where they were going to hold their after-party séance.

They had all enjoyed themselves at the party once they had returned, despite the fact that Audrey had eventually ended it somewhat early due to the rain that had started unexpectedly and very disappointingly. They had then taken some time to remove their makeup and costumes so they could be a bit more comfortable while they played their game together.

The boys were off grabbing some pizza since Jay, Harry, and Gil had determined that they weren’t full even after their entire sweets rampage. Carlos and Ben had went with them, since neither had really wanted to be a part of the spirit calling despite how much of a game that it really was.

“Well, Jane… Are you sure you want to do this?” Audrey asked her sincerely, placing a hand on the other girl’s arm gently as she tried to dissuade her of her decision.

“I think so. I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be, I guess,” Jane somewhat awkwardly replied with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it. Trust me, calling spirits is a bunch of stupid hokey pokey malarkey that some stupid person thought up because he was stupid,” Uma expressed her view on the subject, completely unbothered by the prospect of otherworldly contact.

“That’s a lot of stupids,” Mal acknowledged, raising an eyebrow. Uma shot an unimpressed glance at Mal before continuing in her conversation with Jane.

“You can’t call spirits is what I’m saying,” Uma clarified simply, throwing a flippant gesture in Jane’s direction as she continued about her way.

“On the contrary, Uma, I think that you can. After all, Mal’s dad called Audrey’s spirit back,” Evie argued, and Mal could almost see Evie pull out her debating podium. Uma just rolled her eyes, choosing not to rise to the occasion. Evie was apparently going to have to go without a debate.

“Either way, Jane, are you absolutely one hundred percent sure that you want to do this?”

“I’ll have you guys, and Mal and Uma have magic… So, what could go wrong?” Jane shrugged, and Audrey gave her one last look before finally letting the matter go.

Jane forged ahead of the lot when they approached nearer to the entrance of the library, and she scanned a card beside the door before it opened easily before her. Jane smiled at all of them before stepping aside to let them all in.

“It’s gotta be nice being the daughter of FG,” Uma mentioned offhandedly as they all went in the library quietly. They all made their way over to the table that had already had the board set up on it.

Jane and Uma sat down on the right side of Audrey, and Evie and Mal took a seat on the left. Once everyone else was seated, Audrey sat in the middle of the group and she looked at everyone, letting out a breath as she attempted to clear any thoughts she may have outside of their current activity.

“Okay, so we need to be really focused on what we’re doing,” Audrey instructed. Uma raised an eyebrow but inhaled and exhaled before closing her eyes for a moment, humoring the princess. The rest of the group followed Uma’s example.

The pink princess reached around and lit the white candles nearby them, and finally looked at the rest of them.

“Are we ready?” Audrey questioned calmly. Evie shared a glance with Mal, and Uma looked at Jane with a shrug.

“Sure thing. Not that we’re going to get anything out of it anyway,” Uma nonchalantly answered for all of them. Audrey nodded, breathing out one last time before initiating the game.

“Everybody, hold each other’s hand,” Audrey instructed as everyone complied.

“Let there be no evil forces or demons,” Audrey began, before placing her finger on the pointer. Everyone else followed her example and placed their index finger on the pointer.

“We welcome positivity here and seek only to communicate with the good who may answer,” Audrey introduced themselves, and they all quietly waited for a response.

After several long moments, there didn’t seem to be any sort of activity in the least. Uma looked at Audrey with a smirk.

“You think we’d get its attention if we asked about your excessive underwear hoarding?” Uma asked, chuckling under her breath. Audrey cast her a nasty look, but the board suddenly came to life and the pointer started to spell out a word.

“T-H-A-T-S S-T-U-P-I-D,” Audrey read aloud, and Jane suddenly grew very pale as her eyes locked on the pointer.

Mal glanced at Evie as her grip on Mal’s arm became terribly tight.

“Audrey, tell it that Uma’s sorry, and we can grovel if it wants us to!” Evie whispered loudly, and almost jumped as the pointer started moving again. Mal couldn’t really believe that it was actually working, but she guessed that it was actually possible to communicate with spirits. Like Evie said, her dad did with his ember.

“Chill out, Blueberry, there ain’t no need to grovel,” Uma told her as the spirit guided their fingers along the board.

“K-I-S-S I-T.”

“This spirit’s got sass. I like it,” Uma complimented with a grin.

“Oh, great spirit, do not let the unbelievers in our midst sour your impression of us,” Audrey announced carefully in an attempt to regain its favor.

“Ask it if it’s good or bad?” Evie suggested, and Audrey looked at the board somewhat awkwardly.

“Are you a good spirit or a bad spirit?” the brunette asked it.

“D-E-P-E-N-D-S,” Audrey called out to them.

“This thing must be a kindred spirit,” Uma joked, and Evie couldn’t help but laugh despite the fact that it was absolutely lame. Mal just rolled her eyes at the dumb joke.

“C’mon, M, that was pretty good,” Evie nudged Mal with her arm, wanting Mal to join in the humor that Evie had found in Uma’s statement.

“Good for a dad joke,” Audrey informed them, and they were all brought back to their somewhat nightmarish trip that the five of them had went on not so long ago.

“Yeah, but this time it’s me, not the fast learner,” Uma grinned wickedly. Evie pursed her lips, giving Uma a somewhat offended look.

However, they all quieted as the pointer came to life, moving around once again.

“S-E-A W-I-T-C-H,” it spelled, and Uma furrowed her brow.

“Don’t sass me. You are entirely too transparent to be thinking up any insults. I’m gonna see right through them to your insecure little self, hiding under the big talk,” Uma laughed at her own joke once again, clearly enjoying every moment of their game.

Mal felt a pit form in her stomach as Uma taunted the spirit, and almost immediately, the pointer started to spell another word.

“D-A-N-G-E-R,” Audrey read aloud, and they all shared a glance.

“Ask it if the coast is going to be clear. Or you could ask if the ghost is clear,” Uma told her and broke down into laughter at the change of words, not taking any of the situation seriously whatsoever. However, no one else was laughing due to the very real prospect of the coast definitely not being clear at all.

Evie drew nearer to Mal and Mal could feel her fear emanating off of her. Although, she wasn’t entirely sure that it was only Evie’s fear. Mal was somewhat freaked out herself.

Jane was hiding her face in Audrey’s arm, peeking at the board carefully.

The pointer started to very quickly move on its own.

“D-A-N-G-E-R, D-A-N-G-E-R, D-A-N-G-E-R, D-A-N-G-E-R,” it continued to spell over and over and over.

Jane was almost screaming, Evie was hanging onto Mal with a renewed fear, and Uma was just watching the pointer with a bemused expression.

“Turn it off!” Mal demanded, looking at Audrey with urgency in her tone. The former Queen of Mean cleared her throat, attempting to regain control of the entire situation.

“We’re leaving now, rest in peace,” Audrey quickly drove the pointer to “Goodbye,” successfully shutting down the conversation as Jane clung to her hopelessly and shivered all over.

They all gaped at the board, utterly astounded at the obvious wicked nature of the spirit that they had just called.

Uma opened her mouth to say something to Audrey, but before she could speak, a phone began to ring. Judging by the sound of the ringtone, it had to have been Mal’s phone. No one else would have a constant playback of “Help me! I’m stuck in your pocket!”

If it was humanly possible, Evie clung onto Mal tighter now that her hand was free from the pointer. The other girls stared at her with hugely wide eyes as Mal grabbed her phone and slowly answered the call.

“Hello?” Mal spoke, really hoping that it was no one important and that her voice was projecting more strength than she actually had in her at the prospect of offending a spirit.

There was a pregnant silence.

“You have three hours left,” a deep, almost demonic voice suddenly spoke, and Mal quickly hung up the phone, a strike of fear inevitably running through her.

They were all frighteningly silent, and Jane looked as if she might faint. Audrey’s eyes were enormous and her jaw was slack, but Uma didn’t seem to look bothered by it at all, if her raised eyebrow was any indicator.

Evie shared a frantic glance with Mal, mocha pools meeting an emerald green gaze.

“I think we should probably grovel now.”


	13. The Great Plan...

“Once again, let me just bring attention to the fact that if Uma hadn’t been rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, we wouldn’t be in this predicament right now!” Audrey announced to them as they rode to Mal’s castle on their motorcycles.

Due to the fact that the boys had left and Ben had taken Uma’s bike, Audrey was currently forced to sit in Mal’s cab, Uma had to sit right behind Mal, and Jane was clinging onto the back of Evie’s bike.

Most of their time after the phone call that they received was but a blur in Mal’s mind, and she couldn’t hardly focus on anything else except trying to find some sort of solution to their problem. And of course, the only possible solution existing was to address the god of the Underworld himself in a plea for help. They had texted the boys soon after they left the library to let them know that they needed to meet the girls at the castle immediately, and hopefully the entire situation would come to a happy conclusion rather than a tragic mass death.

“This is a bunch of bull crap, Audy, and I’m not worried about it at all,” Uma informed her, raising her voice to be heard over the steady hum of the motor with one arm around Mal’s waist as she hung on to the faerie.

“Uma, I really think that you went way too far this time. Spirits are not something to be messed with,” Mal shouted, her brow furrowed intensely.

Mal wouldn’t normally be worked up over the supernatural or the superstitious, but since reuniting with her father and hearing some of his many anecdotes, she had come to truly believe in the power of not only spirits but also their wrath. He had recounted many a tale surrounding the easily angered nature of spirits, and Mal was inclined to believe him due to his great experience with the deceased.

“What are we going to do, Evie?” Jane questioned from behind the bluenette. Evie sighed, tilting her head slightly to be better heard by the other girl.

“The best that we can,” Evie replied simply, having full faith in her sister as well as all of their abilities as a whole.

Before long, the two girls pulled into the driveway at the front of the castle. Mal happily noted that all of the boys were gathered outside and that for once, they weren’t fashionably late.

The girls speedily wheeled in, and they turned off the motorcycles. Evie put her foot on the ground firmly, holding it still as Jane hesitantly clambered off of it. Mal got off of hers and offered a hand to the pink princess as the boys quickly approached.

Jane hurried over to Carlos and took his hand firmly, and Uma and Harry shared a glance before she gently took his hook in her hand, shaking it playfully in a show of just how seriously she was taking the entire situation. Gil grinned at the both of them easily, trusting that it all must be okay if Uma was not worried.

“What’s going on?” Jay questioned as Mal pulled Audrey from the cab carefully. She quickly handed the princess over to Jay before starting to ascend the stairs to the door.

Mal hesitantly breathed out, trying to think of a nice way to put it but eventually decided upon her characteristic bluntness.

“Uma awoke an evil spirit and now we have two hours and… How many, E?” Mal checked as they pushed through the giant doors, everyone pouring in as a relatively orderly line.

“Two hours and forty minutes,” Evie provided the exact numbers from her position to the direct right of her.

“Two hours and forty minutes left to live,” Mal finished grimly as they hurried through the halls.

“Technically, it’s two hours and thirty-eight minutes,” Evie unhelpfully added to her previous statement. Despite how nerve-wracking it was to be living on a timer, Mal was thankful that the Evie could at least keep her head enough to do the math. Of course, Mal wasn’t sure that the whole limited time to live had fully sunk in, and Evie was still exceedingly optimistic about the fact that it could perhaps be resolved.

Ben sidled up to her left side, his eyes firmly focused on her profile as he tried to catch her gaze.

“Mal, what are we going to do?” he questioned in that sweet, innocent manner, and Mal could almost see that much too loving and trusting expression on his face. It was painfully similar to how Evie looked at her a lot, despite the obvious fact that he was viewing her in a romantic light. Her sweet sister and husband cinnamon rolls.

“We are going to talk to my dad and find out what to do to stop this mess,” Mal told him just as they approached her father’s door.

The girl knocked on the door quickly and loudly, hoping that he would hurry and answer the door. However, after a few seconds too long, she turned the doorknob swiftly.

She resisted the urge to groan when she opened it and was immediately greeted with much too loud rock music blasting in another room deeper in his living area. The group hurried through the house as the music’s volume grew in magnitude. Mal pushed open the door to the bedroom hesitantly, and her eyes went wide at the sight before her.

Her dad was currently applying a fresh coat of makeup around his eyes as he looked in the mirror closely, stopping every few seconds to bob his head to the music or scream out a lyric that he was particularly fond of.

“Dad!” Mal shouted, raising her voice over the tunes playing, and Hades jumped in surprise before quickly trying to put away his things. He swiftly swept it all into a drawer before looking at the group as if he had not been doing what he had just obviously been doing.

Sure, everyone knew that he put on eyeliner, but no one had actually caught him in the practice of applying it. And it was quite obviously something that he was embarrassed of actually being seen doing, if his reaction was anything to go by.

“Yes, dear?” Hades questioned, full of sugary sweetness, and Mal couldn’t even relish the fact that she had actually succeeded in embarrassing him because she was so focused on the pressing matter at hand. However, Uma couldn’t help but vocally acknowledge the entire situation, because it was entirely too great of an opportunity to pass up.

“Were you just-”

“Nope,” came Hades’ swift reply.

“I think I just saw you-”

“Nope, nothing to see here.”

“Y’know, guyliner ain’t a thing to be ashamed of. I could give ye some tips later if yer interested,” Harry offered nonchalantly, a wicked grin on his face as he gauged Uma’s expression. To his great satisfaction, he earned a large smirk in response to his efforts.

“Okay, ladies, we’ve got to get serious here. You can talk about your makeup later,” Jay interjected and pulled them from the conversation in an attempt to bring focus to the issue that most of them were worried about in the first place.

Mal cleared her throat, nodding to Jay in thanks as she sighed. Hades raised an eyebrow at the girl, but not before flashing Harry a warning glance.

“Dad, we were playing with a Ouija board tonight, and something happened,” Mal started, and Hades nodded as a smirk suddenly appeared on his face.

“Okay. Any news from the other side?” Hades chuckled at his own joke and reference to Doctor Facilier.

“We got a spirit, but I think it was evil,” Mal allowed herself an exhale in hopes of releasing some of the pent-up tension. “Uma made it mad, and now we have two hours and-”

“Thirty-three minutes,” Evie interjected as Uma threw her hands up in exasperation, showing her exasperation with the fact that Mal continued to blame her when in her opinion none of this was even a real worry.

“To live,” Mal explained, and she felt her stomach drop as Hades’ face suddenly turned very somber indeed. He furrowed his brow, looking at the lot of them in deep thought as he considered it all.

“Can you send the spirit back to the Underworld?” Mal asked him, and to her utmost horror, he shook his head slowly. She shared a glance with Evie who was standing right beside her, a hand holding onto Mal’s arm carefully.

“I can’t stop it now. You guys have angered it, and there will be no peace until it exacts deathly revenge,” Hades told them gravely, looking at each of them in turn with a strange expression.

Jane gasped and Carlos rushed to grab her, and Mal was almost certain that the girl must be about to faint. Audrey had an arm wrapped around Jay, her other hand resting on his chest as he held her near while they listened to the verdict. Ben had a hand on the small of Mal’s back as he disbelievingly took it in. Even Uma appeared to be much more mindful of what she had done, and she didn’t even have a hint of her previous smirk on her face as she glanced at her crewmates.

“However, you can try to appease it,” Hades continued, and Mal felt the smallest springs of hope blossoming in her chest. She shared a glance with Evie and the bluenette nodded, looking to Hades before speaking up.

“What do we need to do?” Evie questioned.

“Do something for it that it enjoyed during its time alive,” Hades shrugged. “Easy peasy.”

“It’s really not,” Uma piped up finally, that signature sarcasm shining through as she slowly approached the god of the Underworld lounged before them in his office chair. “You wanna know why? ‘Cuz there is no way to know what in the world that the stupid ghost liked when it was living!”

“Well, surely it obeyed the laws,” Ben murmured, seemingly deep in thought as he chewed his gum slightly. Mal raised an eyebrow at him disbelievingly.

“He_ does_ know this is an evil spirit, right?” Uma asked, and Mal simply shrugged in reply.

“Even more reason that it has to obey the laws,” Ben smiled, and Mal could easily see that he was getting an idea that would obviously most likely not work at all.

“Is he not a fast learner?” Uma asked the other girl, and Evie pursed her lips while narrowing her eyes as a simple response to the pirate captain.

He turned to look at Mal and he took her hands in his own.

“I can make a law that says it can’t harm you!” Ben exclaimed excitedly, and Mal squeezed his hand, smiling at his efforts to help in his own way that only he knew how.

“I guess it can’t hurt anything to at least try that, Ben,” Mal threw her husband a bone, knowing that the law really wouldn’t help anything at all. She really just would rather that he go and make his law so that he wouldn’t be panicking the entire time that they were trying to appeal for their lives.

Ben smiled widely, nodding his head and kissing Mal’s cheek swiftly, before taking off out of Hades’ room and to his own study where he could draft and finalize the law as quickly as possible.

“Well, laws are all good and well, but what are we really doing?” Uma questioned, raising an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at Mal solemnly.

“Wait a minute, guys!” Evie suddenly cried, holding a hand up as she looked at the row of people next to her. Mal turned her face to look at the bluenette, giving the girl’s ideas due consideration.

“What if we baked our way out? Everybody likes baking,” Evie suggested, smiling winningly at Mal.

The purple-haired girl skeptically eyed her with a slight frown on her face, remembering the last time that her and the VKs were in the kitchen. They were officially banned from cooking as a result of the enormous disaster that was Ben’s birthday breakfast.

However, if they all calmly handled it and read the recipes, following them perfectly, it might not be such a giant failure. In fact, it might actually work. It was better than no plan, which was where they essentially were at this point.

“Everybody likes a parfait, too, but that don’t mean we’re doing it,” Uma sassed, rolling her eyes at the very idea of Evie’s strange and simple idea. Mal shook her head at the pirate and nodded to Evie.

“Actually, I think Evie’s idea is pretty good. It’s better than nothing, and she’s right. A lot of people like something sweet to eat,” Mal praised Evie’s idea and the slightly older girl puffed up with pride. Hades looked at his daughter carefully before finally slowly nodding his head in affirmation.

“That’s a good thing to try, I suppose,” Hades shrugged. “After all, you have about two hours and-”

“Twenty-five minutes,” Evie piped up and Mal resisted the urge to groan upon her sister’s nerve-wracking statement and somewhat irritating canniness in her ability to keep time.

“Left,” Hades finished finally, watching Evie with an expression somewhere between exasperation and commendation for the bluenette.

Mal looked at all of the people around her and they all solemnly eyed her in return.

“Does that sound okay to everybody?” Mal checked, and when she received varying degrees of affirmation from all around, she clapped her hands firmly, taking in a deep breath.

“Okay. Let’s bake for our lives.”


	14. The Offering

“Y’know, at this rate, we’re all going to die,” Uma announced, pushing between Harry and the counter as she rushed around in an attempt to see how close to cooled that the chocolate pie was in the refrigerator.

Mal and Evie were rolling dough for cookies, and Jay and Carlos were trying to make chocolate chip muffins. Audrey and Jane were attempting desperately to mix a small vanilla cake, but Audrey kept getting grossed out at the very sight of the gooeyness in the bowl. Gil and Harry were following Uma around, trying to help her with whatever they could.

“Be positive!” Evie sing-songed just as Uma placed her hand on the refrigerator door handle. Uma spun to face the other girl, her fist still locked around the door as she mustered a sweet, completely fake smile.

“Okay, then… I’m positively sure we’re going to die at this rate!” Uma proclaimed in a sickeningly sweet tone before yanking open the refrigerator. She placed her hand on the pie pan and pulled it back quickly in frustration upon feeling that the pie was still very much hot.

“Dangit! How long is this thing going to take?!” Uma cried as Harry reached an arm over her shoulder in an attempt to stick his finger in it to lick. Uma quickly grabbed his wrist and threw him a warning glance.

“Don’t touch the pie,” Uma instructed. He raised an eyebrow at her in questioning. “It’s hot.”

“How much more time do we have, E?” Mal questioned, glancing around at the various different pies and other confections they had surrounding them and taking a mental count that tallied up to around six different sets of foods.

However, that wasn’t counting the absolutely gorgeous cake that they had made as a centerpiece. It was a beautiful harvest orange with multiple colored leaves around the sides, and it had three tiers, all resting on top of one another in a wonderful crown jewel of appeasing goodness. Between Evie and Audrey, the entire cake was a work of art.

Now they were just trying to wrap up the smaller things.

“About forty minutes,” Evie immediately answered, rolling out the dough swifter than ever.

Mal immediately sprang into action, leaping for the things that they had already made. They needed to get their desserts to the séance location so they could offer them to the spirits. She knew that they had way less than they had originally planned for, hence Uma’s skepticism about their livelihoods, but it would have to suffice.

“Okay, we don’t have time for this. We need to leave now,” Mal announced, handing a pan of cookies to the nearest person to her besides Evie which happened to be Gil. Mal pointed a stern finger at him in warning. “Do_ not_ eat those.”

Gil nodded quickly, despite his longing glance thrown at the confections. Mal nodded once in response, and she started handing several different pans to the people that had lined up around her. Jay quickly took a pan of chocolate chip cookies from her, and Carlos grabbed two pans of blueberry and strawberry muffins. Harry held an apple pie in his hands as well as the pesky chocolate pie from the refrigerator, his hook stuffed in one of the looser pockets of his jacket, and Jane took a peach cobbler from the counter.

Evie, Mal, and Uma very carefully took the masterpiece that Audrey and Evie had so diligently decorated, and they started to move out toward the front of the castle. Audrey walked in front of the group, directing them as she opened different doors to let the dessert-carriers through.

“We’ve got stairs, you guys, so watch out,” Audrey called as she held open one of the large front doors of the castle. Mal and Evie edged toward the beginnings of the steps and they hesitantly started their journey down. “Also, it’s starting to rain a little.”

“Okay, you two, nice and easy, but not too slowly. We’re headed for your Jeep,” Mal instructed carefully and Evie gasped in shock and total offense. Uma raised an eyebrow at the bluenette but didn’t say a word as she tried to make sure that the cake remained steady as they descended the stairs.

“She has a name!” Evie protested immediately, and Mal rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“This is hardly the time to be talking about-”

Evie just stared at her from across the cake and Mal sighed deeply, trying to avoid the overwhelming frustration that was threatening to take over.

“Charlene. We’re headed for Charlene,” Mal corrected herself finally.

Mal finally stepped down onto the ground, but she gasped sharply when Evie stumbled just barely as she made her way down, shaking the entire cake. Everyone froze for a moment, but they quickly resumed their trip when they overcame their temporary heart attack. Also, the fact that the rain was picking up assisted in their swift decision as well.

“Left, right, left, right, we’re almost there,” Mal reassuringly informed them from her convenient place in surveying what was behind Evie.

They finally reached the blue Jeep Renegade, and Jay pulled open the door quickly as they gently slid the cake into the backseat. Evie rushed for the driver’s seat, cranking Charlene swiftly before popping the back of the vehicle open.

The boys and Jane all hurried to the back of the Jeep and pushed the desserts into the back as they tried to shove aside Evie’s many, very well-organized makeup, sewing, and dressmaking supplies.

“How are we all going to get there?” Mal questioned, looking at the others. They were a pitiful bunch, with Audrey hiding under Jay’s jacket from the cold rain, and Carlos’ arm around Jane. Uma was just standing there bravely alongside Harry and Gil as they were growing increasingly drenched.

“You girls can ride in the car. We’ll take the bikes,” Jay informed her. “I’ll drive Uma’s so Harry and Gil can ride in the side cars.”

“Where’s the fourth person going to go in Evie’s car? There’s no space left for five people because that cake’s as big as a person nearly,” Mal told them, and Uma furrowed her brow, taking in a breath to speak before Audrey interrupted.

“Uma can ride in the very back with the desserts,” Audrey suggested, and Uma started to protest, but everyone had already started heading for their respective seats. Uma blinked, biting her lip as she considered what just happened, before stepping into the back and sitting down on one of Evie’s many containers. She then quickly shut the back before Evie started in reverse.

Uma raised her head, looking at Audrey and Jane who were just in front of her in the backseat with the cake.

“Hi,” Uma greeted sarcastically as Evie turned in her seat to better gauge where she was backing up. Evie offered her barely a glance as she wheeled around a little too emphatically.

“Watch the cake!” Audrey cried as it leaned dangerously near the pink princess. Evie offered an apologetic look to the girl before starting a hopefully careful drive toward Auradon Prep where she was planning to park in the lot nearest to the library area.

“Oh, boy, I can already tell we’re going to die. Let the powers that be take the wheel for Evie is currently at it,” Uma gestured toward the heavens and Mal reached over, squeezing Evie’s shoulder calmingly.

“How much more time, Evie?”

“About twenty-five minutes,” Evie informed her, and Mal could see that the bluenette was growing considerably less relaxed than she had been earlier. Of course, there was a lot of pressure on her to get them to the school safely and without damaging the goods.

“Okay. We’re making good time,” Mal informed the other four in an attempt to remove at least a little of the stress that they were experiencing.

“Y’know, it is so fun riding in the trunk,” Uma commented, full of false cheer, and Mal shook her head in response to the pirate as she spotted that familiar flash cross Evie’s face that indicated that Evie was about to go nerd on them.

“It’s technically not the trunk. It’s more like the rear compartment,” Evie explained, looking into her rearview mirror somewhat distractedly as she checked for the boys to see if they were keeping up. She happily noted that they were close behind, and she accelerated a bit faster in an attempt to arrive at the school faster.

Mal was rather impressed that Evie could hold back all of the logistics that she no doubt knew surrounding the said rear compartment, but she supposed that Evie was too nervous and concentrated on driving to further her explanation.

“That’s great to know! I’m riding in Charlene’s butt!” Uma announced, full of the same sarcastic enthusiasm that her previous comment had been infused with.

Remarkably, Evie chose not to respond and instead settled for flicking on her windshield wipers. However, Mal knew that now that Uma had committed to her aggravation cause, the pirate captain would not give up.

“The last time I rode in the blueberry-mobile, we went to jail. With the way our luck’s going, we’re probably going back for round two before we’re through riding,” Uma mentioned, trying desperately to draw a reaction from the bluenette but moving her hand in a flippant gesture as her elbow rested on the top of the backseat.

“Better jail than death,” Jane expressed to Uma, her blue eyes ridiculously wide as she clenched the sides of the seat in the midst of her horror surrounding the entire idea of dying.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure that dying doesn’t depend on location,” Uma shrugged. However, Mal noticed that Uma didn’t say anything more to them in regard to imminent death, and she couldn’t help but assume that the pirate was somewhat worried about the situation as well.

They drove silently down the road, and Mal noticed that the rain was starting to pick up as well as the amount of thunder and lightning that they were seeing. Fortunately, though, they were getting closer to the school.

“It should be really fun to carry all the sweets through this,” Mal couldn’t help but bring attention to the fact. Evie offered her a nod of her head slightly in acknowledgement, and they spotted the beginnings of the campus with relief.

“Speaking of sweets, it is so fun riding in the trunk with them,” Uma told them yet again, and Mal couldn’t resist rolling her eyes at the other girl.

“So you’ve said,” Mal shot back, wishing that Uma would just shut her mouth.

“Seriously, though, why couldn’t anybody but me sit back here? Like princess here,” Uma grabbed Audrey’s head with her hand and the brunette looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “She’d like it in the back. It’s a nice little hole where her and all of her perfectionism can stay.”

Audrey widened her eyes in offense as she opened her mouth to protest.

“Y’know, this vehicle just brings out the best in you people,” Mal announced with a grin of false cheeriness before the two girls in the back of the vehicle could start arguing. However, it quickly faded as she spotted the school building itself.

“Update on the time, E?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

Evie carefully pulled into the parking lot that was just outside the library, and they looked at each other before Evie popped open the rear compartment and they all ran out their doors quickly. The rain was coming down harder than ever as the boys pulled up just under the trees not too far away.

They came bounding over, sopping wet, and they started taking deserts from the rear compartment of Charlene as Evie and Mal approached the side of the car to get the cake from the backseat. Harry offered a hand to Uma to help her down from the vehicle. She just offered him a sarcastic smile.

“Do you know what’s fun? Riding in the trunk,” Uma told him, and Harry slightly smiled in return, knowing very much that the girl was not in a good mood.

“You oughtta try it, actually,” Uma continued before Mal called her over to help them with the cake. The pirate captain laughed in such a manner that conveyed all of her frustrations at once before she whipped around to go and assist the other two girls.

They scurried toward the shed over the doorway, desserts in tow as Mal, Evie, and Uma hauled the primary piece of importance. Audrey pushed open the door for them, and everyone poured in behind the pink princess.

“Now, let’s get this to the library,” Mal instructed, and they all moved as quickly as they could toward the séance location. The three carrying the cake had to shimmy around several corners carefully yet as swiftly as they could manage, which successfully delayed them for several more minutes.

However, they finally reached the library where they placed the large cake on top of the table. The boys and Jane wasted no time in placing their various confections around and nearby the great dessert.

The group backed away from the display carefully, looking around with wide eyes as if they would spot some sort of paranormal activity. Once they were sure that it was okay, they breathed out deeply in relief. The boys threw off their coats, shedding themselves of their wet outer layers, and they draped them on some nearby chairs as they all mentally congratulated themselves on a job well done.

But this calm was simply not meant to be, for Uma spotted a flaw before anyone could even truly enjoy their possible survival.

“Guys! That danged chocolate pie! It’s leaking!” Uma pointed as the chocolate oozed down from the pan and onto the table. Harry stepped up behind his captain, his chest pressing against her shoulder, and he furrowed his brow as he wiped a bit on his finger and licked it.

“It still tastes good, though!” Harry smacked his lips, enjoying the delectable taste of the chocolate, and Uma narrowed her eyes at him in irritation.

“The peach cobbler’s too watery,” Jane noticed suddenly in horror, adding to the worrisome state of things.

“Hey, but the muffins are just right!” Carlos proudly told them before noticing the pieces of eggshell sticking out of the confections. Audrey scrunched her nose at the sight.

“Looks like the cupcakes have Celia-itus,” Audrey acknowledged as she pulled back in disgust so that she was standing closer to Jay.

Evie and Mal shared a glance, and Mal watched as Evie slipped on that infamous brave face, walking up to the table before them all in an attempt to make them feel better.

“Don’t worry, you guys, we still have our centerpiece!” Evie proclaimed proudly, gesturing at the gorgeous cake there on the table. However, lightning flashed outside, and after just a moment they noticed in pure horror that the cake was starting to split in half.

“No, no, no, no!!!” Evie cried as everyone watched the cake fall apart, a huge crack in the middle. Mal’s mouth was hanging ajar, and Jane was hopelessly clinging onto Carlos. Audrey stood nearby Jay, her arm wrapped around his waist and her body drawn near to his side. Harry, Uma, and Gil all gaped at the delicious confection as each side just slid away from its other half.

“It’s destroyed,” Mal murmured, her eyes wide as she stared. Evie shook her head vigorously, refusing to believe that all of their hard work had been wasted.

“Not yet, it’s not!” Evie cried, grabbing one side of the cake and trying to drag it back so that it was sitting up straight. Her hands pulled at the fondant, but she was getting nowhere.

“M, help me!” Evie demanded, trying her best to upright the dessert. Before anyone could even make a move to assist her in her fruitless endeavor, Evie’s hands shot straight through the cake as the fondant caved in from her tugs, and she withdrew them quickly, staring at the complete and utter failure that was their last chance at life.

“It has to be an omen,” Uma spoke, her voice barely able to be heard as she vocalized the thoughts that were coursing through everyone’s minds.

They all stared at their ruined creation, until Mal hesitantly approached Evie’s side, taking several napkins from the table. Mal stared at the cake from her closer vantage point, and she looked up at Evie’s stricken face.

“Evie, here,” Mal offered the napkins to her finally, bumping the bluenette’s hand to get her attention, and Evie took them from her before wiping her hands off slowly.

“We’re going to die!” Evie brokenly spoke, and Mal felt her heart seize painfully as she watched her sister fall into the depths of despair. It only added to the dread and fear that was already building in her stomach.

Mal reached over and took Evie’s hand carefully, quite afraid of the answer she was going to receive for the question she was about to ask.

“E, how much time left?” Mal asked, her voice barely a whisper, and Evie just slowly looked at her, the bluenette’s eyes startlingly dry as she gaped at the other girl.

“Five minutes,” Evie murmured, and Mal swallowed hard as she just squeezed Evie’s hand tightly in an attempt to comfort the both of them.

Jay looked to Audrey, pressing his forehead against hers firmly as he held her arms in his careful grasp, preparing for whatever was to come for them both.

Jane fell against Carlos, crying hard and successfully starting to wet his dry shirt with her tears. He stroked her hair calmingly and rested his head on hers.

Uma bit her lip, furrowing her brow as she truly considered the situation with a building sense of panic. Uma had never believed in the supernatural or the ability to call spirits outside of the ember’s abilities, but for the first time, Uma was actually terrified of what could happen to her at the hands of those spirits she most certainly didn’t believe in.

They all shared a few quiet moments together, before Evie suddenly hugged Mal with a vigor as she whispered two horrifying words that the entire group managed to hear.

“Thirty seconds.”

Mal closed her eyes tightly, bringing her arms around Evie firmly in return.

Uma took hold of Harry’s hook in her hand, using her other to grab his free hand. He gently took his free hand out of hers and he pulled her against him.

“I LOVE YOU, EVIE, AND I ALWAYS WILL!!!” Gil proclaimed his affections loudly and suddenly.

Mal caught just a glimpse of Evie’s horrified expression as she pulled away before everyone erupted into screams when a thunderous boom sounded off, and everything went dark around them.

They had failed.


	15. Are We Dead?

All was pitch black and one could only feel whoever was next to them as they screeched in the oblivion.

However, after a few moments, their screams died out and they quieted slowly.

Jane was tucked firmly against Carlos and Jay was holding Audrey in his arms firmly, his hand against the back of her head as he attempted to shield her from whatever could harm her in this untrekked territory. Gil was next to Harry and Uma, shaking slightly as he tried to make out absolutely anything in the darkness.

“Are we dead?” Evie finally asked, holding Mal tightly against her with the purple-haired girl’s head tucked beneath her chin.

“More importantly, did we go to heaven?” Jane blubbered, still sobbing in Carlos’ arms. He stroked her back, his own tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he tried to stay strong for his girl.

“Huh. Heaven’s darker than I thought it’d be,” Uma piped up absentmindedly.

“Uma’s here? Nope, we are _definitely_ not in heaven, you guys,” Mal shortly announced.

“You know, I tried, and I tried to be good,” Mal sighed and leaned into Evie more fully. Evie melted against the faerie, holding her warmly in her arms as she stroked the shorter girl’s head.

“Well, I reckon you should’ve tried harder, dragon breath,” Uma shot back, her voice betraying just how nervous she actually was as her back touched Harry’s chest and her hand firmly closed around his hook.

“I know you tried, M. You did the best you could,” Evie reassuringly told her, calmingly petting Mal’s head.

“Wait a minute. If this isn’t heaven, why are you here, E?” Mal asked before pulling away from Evie slightly as she tried to spot her friend’s face in the darkness. However, she didn’t see anything at all in front of her, despite the fact that she could feel Evie’s body brushing against her own.

“I should’ve never carved that pumpkin!” Evie exclaimed, feeling tears brimming in her eyes as she grew increasingly emotional about the entire situation.

“Y’know, Cap’n, I said I’d follow ye, but I didn’t exactly mean this,” Harry interrupted before Mal could say anything that might be even slightly reassuring to Evie, and Mal easily heard Uma’s completely unimpressed groan.

“Uma, I’m scared. Can you hold my hand?”

“Boy, I ain’t holding your hand! Man up!” Uma proclaimed, but placed her hand on Gil’s shoulder nevertheless in an attempt to soothe the poor guy.

“Do you think my funeral will be pretty? I hope they color-coordinate the flowers,” Evie mournfully expressed, holding onto Mal tightly as she drew the slightly younger girl against her firmly.

“I know,” Mal sighed, returning Evie’s hug with an arm to at least humor the bluenette somewhat.

“Do you think they’ll sing my song?”

“Which one? ‘All the Single Ladies’ or ‘Old Town Road?’” Uma questioned, full of snark, but she was lacking her usual bite and Mal easily assumed that the pirate was more shaken than she would like to let on.

“No, neither of those. More like… She chilled like a villain! And if she had gotten the right kiss, she could not have to miss! Her life as a-”

“Irritating priss,” Uma almost reflexively finished, and Mal could almost feel Evie’s sad pout as the bluenette’s shoulders sunk a bit.

Carlos shook his head in response to the pirate’s sarcasm, and he stroked Jane’s back comfortingly as she sobbed.

“Hey, Jane, don’t worry. This isn’t so bad. It’s like… Romeo and Juliet,” Carlos hopefully told her, trying to resist the urge to fall into tears right with his girlfriend.

“I never really liked that play anyway. It was stupid because they both died!” Jane bawled, her face pressed firmly against his shirt as he rested his chin on her head.

“But they died together!” Carlos added in an attempt to make the entire situation at least a little better for the brunette. “And it was romantic!”

“Can’t we be romantic alive?” Jane cried, and Carlos found that he couldn’t exactly think of anything to dispute that statement, so he just rested his head against Jane’s quietly, allowing his tears to slowly cascade down his face.

Jay could hear Carlos’ slight whimpers and if he knew where the poor boy was amongst them, he would try to offer at least a little comfort for his little brother. However, he had more immediate issues to address because Audrey’s form had suddenly started to quake, and he knew that she must be crying. Jay drew her tighter against him, stroking her hair and kissing her head as he pressed his forehead against her.

“It’s okay, foxy. We’re going to be okay,” Jay gently reassured her, and she just shook harder. “I love you.” After several long moments, Jay finally settled for just holding her firmly and trying to make her feel better with simply his presence.

“Uma, I really wish that you had never done this,” Mal proclaimed to the pirate captain nearby. Uma simply scoffed in response, turning her head in the general direction that Mal’s voice had come from.

“What you talking about? I didn’t do this! It was that stupid, bozo, moron spirit’s fault!” Uma proclaimed.

“Uma, we don’t need the fire and brimstone to add to our darkness, so shut up!” Mal snapped sharply as Jane’s sobs grew louder and Audrey’s shaking against Jay grew worse.

However, Evie was neither crying nor shivering at this point and she was instead nearly hysteric.

“Mal?! I don’t want to be here! I’m scared! I can’t be dead, _you_ can’t be dead! We had so many more years to live! We were going to get old together, outlive our husbands, and torture our grandkids with stories of the good old days!” Evie heaved in and out frantically as she panicked fully.

Mal felt for Evie’s face in the dark before holding Evie’s cheeks firmly in her grasp. Evie’s breaths were falling hard and fast against Mal’s face and the faerie knew that the bluenette was on the edge of bursting into tears.

“Evie, calm down! You’re going to pass out if you keep breathing so hard!” Mal exclaimed in an attempt to get through to the girl before going completely silent. There seemed to be an overall hush in the room as everyone took in Mal’s last statement. The faerie furrowed her brow, reveling in the feel of Evie’s warm, minty breath hitting her face in soothing waves.

“Why are you breathing if we’re dead?” Mal questioned finally.

“I don’t know… It must mean that,” Evie trailed off before suddenly and very quickly scooping Mal into a tight embrace, grinning all the way. “I’M ALIVE!!!”

However, Evie suddenly put Mal down and was quiet for a moment.

“But the rest of you aren’t… Oh, Mal! I love you, and I don’t want you to be dead!!!” Evie cried, sobbing finally as she hugged Mal and leaned into the shorter girl’s form wholly.

“I’ll have a good funeral for you, and it’ll be gorgeous. Jay, Carlos, I’ll give you guys a wonderful one, too! And, Mal, I won’t forget your song,” Evie heartfeltly expressed before taking in a breath to sing.

“She had all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D! And I’ll find her in the space between, where heaven and definitely-not-heaven come to meet!” Evie started to sing, and Mal shook her head, pressing it against Evie’s chest in a mix of relief, confusion, and exasperation as she considered the entire situation.

Audrey had started to shake even worse in Jay’s hold and he opened his mouth to say something that he hoped was reassuring when she suddenly let out a sharp bark of laughter. He furrowed his brow, trying to figure out if she was just hysterically laughing at this point or if there was something actually funny about this situation.

“What-”

Audrey then suddenly and very loudly started to laugh. Jay’s eyes widened as she fell into a fit of mirth against his form, and he was suddenly very worried about his previously sane girlfriend.

“Guys, I think you broke her,” the former thief awkwardly acknowledged.

She snorted a few times in the midst of her wholehearted giggles, and she patted Jay’s chest firmly as she thoroughly enjoyed whatever it was that inspired this bout of mirth.

“We’re good!” Audrey shouted, trying to speak between laughs.

Suddenly, all of the lights came back on, and Mal shielded her eyes while Evie blinked furiously in an attempt to adjust to the change. Jay narrowed his eyes to adjust to the sudden blast of light, and the others squinted as they suffered from the alteration as well.

They all gaped, their mouths practically dropping to the floor as the god of the Underworld himself appeared. Audrey strode over to the taller man, offering him a fist bump, which he quite gladly accepted. The two then turned to face the group, obviously very proud of themselves as well as their efforts as they grinned widely.

“What is going on?” Mal finally asked, completely lost.

“M, what’s going on is that you’re alive!” Evie announced excitedly, hugging the other girl tightly as she practically bounced up and down. “Of course, I knew I was alive, but I am so happy that you guys are, too!”

“We’re alive! Evie, I love you!” Gil suddenly cried out excitedly as he hurried over to Evie, lips puckered comically. Evie quickly spun to face Mal with a huge grin that was definitely not genuine whatsoever. Mal couldn’t even hardly muster any sort of protection for the bluenette, and Evie just stubbornly remained turned away from Gil as she stared down the faerie.

Hades and Audrey shared a glance and the god nodded to the princess, cuing her to start the explanation.

“After you, Uma, and Evie totally ruined my pumpkin patch and I reacted the way I did, I started thinking. I thought about just how angry it made me that during my first chance to redeem myself after the giant disaster this summer, you guys swoop in and totally ruined it. I also really started thinking about just how mad I was that everyone at the party saw me cry,” Audrey expressed to them. Mal just gaped, tilting her head slightly as she listened.

“So, I thought that you guys really needed a bit of old-fashioned retaliation, and the séance was the perfect place to do it,” Audrey smiled, very satisfied with herself and her efforts. She then made a sweeping gesture toward Hades with a smile.

“And to help me with all of the behind the scenes work, who better than the god of the Underworld himself?” Audrey acknowledged her partner in crime as thunder rumbled outside.

Everyone was just staring at the two people before them, and they just blinked as they took it all in.

However, before anyone could begin to voice any thoughts, a certain dynamic duo of mischief suddenly started to sneak into the room behind Audrey and Hades. However, they both froze as they realized that everyone was looking at them.

Celia offered a huge grin as she straightened, and Dizzy remained unashamedly staring at the sweets that they were originally after. Celia quickly elbowed her, however, and she turned to face them with as innocent of an expression as she could muster.

“Hey, hey, hey? What’s cookin’?” Celia questioned, pointing finger-guns at them as she tried to charm her way out of the spotlight.

“We just pranked the pants off of these people. You missed the boat, short stack,” Hades stage-whispered to the Facilier. Celia just shrugged, not really considering the words as she returned to sneaking over to the desserts.

“Oh, that’s nice- wait a minute!” Celia stopped and grabbed Dizzy’s arm to bring her to a halt as well. Celia’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Hades. “What exactly did you two do?”

“We tricked them into thinking that they three hours to live as a result of angering evil spirits with a Ouija board, and left to their own really weird devices mixed with my vague advice, they decided it’d be a good idea to bake their way out of the situation,” Hades explained quickly in a nutshell. Celia laughed wholeheartedly as she looked at the victims of Audrey’s great scheme.

“Good grief, you guys, even _I_ could have told you that it’s just superstition that you can call spirits from a Ouija board,” Celia chuckled, finally calming down as she offered a grin to the lot.

Jane and Carlos truly couldn’t care less about the entire thing, since they were still trying to stop crying, but everyone else was quickly coming to their own conclusions and convictions about the entire thing.

Jay’s brow was furrowed in his confusion as he raised an eyebrow at Audrey. However, his befuddled expression quickly disappeared in favor of a smirk as he eyed his girlfriend.

“Foxy, I must say, I have never been more attracted to you,” Jay shrugged, looking her up and down unashamedly.

Evie didn’t seem to hold any grudges at all and was just pleased at the fact that it was all a huge hoax. Even Mal, against her initial feelings surrounding the topic, had to commend them for their sneakiness.

“Y’know, you guys, this was pretty good, I must say,” Mal finally offered up in regard to the entire joke that had just been so effectively pulled on them.

Hades just smiled, proud of himself, and Audrey nodded. Mal chuckled under her breath at their reactions to her praise before eyeing the both of them carefully with a calculated grin.

“But there will be payback. Maybe not today, and maybe not even tomorrow, but I can assure you that it is coming to you,” Mal told them in a sickeningly sweet tone.

However, Uma was experiencing completely opposite reactions from Mal and Evie, and she stepped closer to the pink princess as she eyed her disbelievingly.

“You mean to tell me that I cooked a leaky chocolate pie, rode in the trunk with all of Evie’s crap, and was convinced that I actually died and went to definitely-not-heaven just for it to be some big, stupid prank you pulled in retaliation for a pumpkin patch attack?” Uma asked Audrey carefully as she moved so that she was just in front of the other girl.

“Should I run?” Audrey questioned with a nervous laugh, and Uma laughed back, scrunching her nose in her mirth before her face grew emotionless.

“Definitely.”

Audrey took off around a table as Uma leapt with a mighty roar of fury, and they began their chase around the library and around the bookshelves. Audrey was screeching when Uma would cut her off around a corner, and they worked their way in a giant loop around the library.

“Look at ‘em go!” Harry called, pointing at Uma with his hook as he smirked wickedly and patted Gil’s back firmly with his free hand to get his attention. Gil laughed loudly, whooping in support of Uma’s chase.

“Go, Uma!!!”

Audrey finally made a grave mistake as she miscalculated the distance between her and Uma and she kept running when she should have stopped and turned. Uma grabbed the girl’s arm and they both went tumbling down to the floor. As soon as they hit the ground where Audrey happened to land with her back against Uma’s chest and stomach, Uma wrapped an arm around Audrey’s neck in a loose chokehold.

It wasn’t nearly tight enough to hurt the princess, but it was firm enough so that Audrey couldn’t escape easily. Uma spun them over so that Audrey’s front was pressed into the ground and Uma had her legs framing either side of the princess’s form as she held her down firmly.

“Help me!” Audrey cried desperately and everyone just shook their head, knowing Uma would never hurt the other girl.

However, before they could consider this much longer, Ben suddenly came rushing in, his hair a complete and utter mess and his eyes comically wide as he skidded through the door.

“I made the law!!!” Ben cried, out of breath and completely drenched as he held up a document that was a bit damp on the edges. He stopped quickly as soon as he truly registered the entire situation unfolding before him.

Audrey was currently firmly pinned onto the floor by Uma, Jay was looking at them as if he wanted to be in Uma’s position but kissing Audrey instead, Harry and Gil were cheering for Uma, and Carlos and Jane were still crying a bit.

“Nice of you to join us, Beastie Boy, but we already died and went to hades,” Uma bluntly spoke looking up at him, and Ben just blinked in response as everyone turned to stare at him.

The entire group started to laugh at the poor King’s expense, and soon enough, Ben himself couldn’t resist laughing about it, too.

Mal just shook her head fondly at the group as Evie stepped beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist as she leaned her head against the shorter girl’s. Mal reciprocated the gesture comfortably and they both sighed in relief.

Their family was cooky and crazy, and some of them liked to prank more than what was healthy, but Mal and Evie wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world and they couldn’t think of anyone better to spend Halloween with.


	16. A Chilling Conclusion

“That was great,” Audrey smiled widely, striding down the hall next to Hades as he walked her back to her room.

The victims of their prank had returned to Mal’s castle so that they could get warmed up and rid themselves of their wet clothes in favor of some warm sweatshirts and sweatpants. Uma had finally let go of Audrey after some persuasion, but not before she had friendlily informed the princess of exactly how displeased that riding in the trunk in particular had made her.

Once Audrey had finally been freed from Uma’s chokehold, Jay had offered to walk her back to her dorm, but she had sweetly refused him. Audrey had wanted a chance to thank Hades for all of his hard work in helping her idea come to fruition, so she asked him to accompany her instead.

“It was pretty darn good, I do have to say,” Hades admitted with a shrug, grinning wickedly as he looked down at the brunette striding along nearby him.

“You were absolutely incredible. Of course, it was my idea, but you did an excellent job executing it,” Audrey expressed kindly, not wasting time in commending herself, but also taking the initiative to offer Hades some praise as well. After all, he had done most of the heavy lifting.

“Yeah, I did excellently. You weren’t too bad yourself. Y’know… For a pink princess,” Hades complimented, his chest puffed up in the midst of his excessive pride.

Between the both of them, they were more than a little obnoxious with their overflowing outward self-confidence, but it was easily evident that they made a good team when it really counted.

“How did you make the lights go out?” Audrey questioned, curious about the tricks that had taken place behind the scenes. Hades offered her a sly smile before gesturing at a nearby breaker box.

“You see that?” Hades asked, and Audrey nodded, her wavy brown hair shaking slightly with the motion.

“I found one of those in a maintenance closet at the library, and I flicked one of the switches off so that all of the lights would go out. The loud boom of thunder when the lights went off was just dumb luck. That couldn’t have gone better even if I had planned it!” Hades laughed heartily, enjoying himself and his wiles quite thoroughly.

Audrey couldn’t help but giggle along with him, her good mood only boosted by the fact that her partner in crime was getting just as much enjoyment from their little joke as she had been.

“Did you mess up the desserts?” Hades asked Audrey in the midst of laughing, and she shook her head quickly, her mirth growing tenfold at the very thought of the baking fiasco.

“Let’s just say that VKs can’t cook at all,” Audrey expressed, and Hades shook his head with an evil smile.

“Now, now, I’m pretty sure that Fairy Godmother’s daughter cooked the cobbler, and you were in on the baking action, too. So, I’m mostly certain that none of them can cook to save their life!” Hades joked, and they both laughed hard at the pun, despite the fact that Audrey did somewhat take offense to the fact that he had implied that she could not cook either.

After a few moments, they finally calmed, and Audrey reconsidered the entire ordeal in her head. A certain facet of the prank turned up in her mind as particularly interesting, and she found that she really wanted to know about Hades’ part in it.

“I really liked what you did with the Ouija board. That was very impressive,” Audrey analyzed the god’s profile as she joyfully thought about their little trick.

However, to her surprise, Hades lost all semblances of humor as he looked at her quickly. Audrey tilted her head to the side, not quite losing her smile but still a little worried about what was going on inside of his head at that moment.

“What?” Audrey asked him, and he furrowed his brow, looking down at the ground as he worked his jaw.

“I didn’t do anything with the Ouija board. That was your job,” Hades told her, a highly concerned expression on his face. Audrey’s smile fell a bit as she gazed at the blue-haired man.

“Well, why did it start moving without me putting any force on it?” Audrey questioned carefully, swallowing deeply as she started to consider the very real possibility that they could have made contact with a spirit.

“I don’t have the power to make anything move with my mind. My ember can harness those sorts of powers, but it’s at the museum. I didn’t do anything at your séance tonight,” Hades explained slowly, and Audrey suddenly had a very bad feeling in her gut as she chewed the inside of her cheek with a bit of panic.

They continued on with a hushed aura surrounding them. However, Audrey couldn’t help but notice how very dark it was that night, and she felt herself grow a little afraid as the lights in the hallways flickered off and on just slightly with the power and strength of the storm outside.

“Well… I guess I did say that strange things tend to happen on this night, didn’t I?” Hades chuckled nervously, shifting his gaze to look at the pink princess.

“I suppose you did,” Audrey shortly replied, looking about as if something was going to jump out at any moment to devour her with its darkness. Unconsciously, she drifted a bit closer to the god that was walking nearby her.

Audrey supposed that odd things did happen this time of year. And some things simply cannot be explained, especially when it comes to matters of the paranormal.

After all, that was the charm of Halloween.


End file.
